Rage Against The Dying Of The Light
by Vampbarbie
Summary: Sequel to 'Standing In The Way Of Control'. DW/TW crossover. Rated M for later chapters. “There’s a storm coming Jack, and I’m going to start it.”
1. Chapter 1

FINALLY got round to getting this into a postable state - the sequel to 'Standing In The Way Of Control'. Please read and review. I'll warn you now there is a LOT of angst...wait how is that different to anything else I write? LOL

Doctor Who / Torchwood crossover so the usual suspects from the last story plus a few. Still AU after Doctor Who s3 and Torchwood s1 (pretty much ignoring that anything after that exists)

Disclaimer: I own nothing I just play here. Likewise for quoted song lyrics.

NOTE: Italics indicate dreamstates.

* * *

Rage Against The Dying Of The Light

Rose places the file face down on her desk and slips her aching feet wincingly back into her shoes. She glances at the clock. She is late; again, for her mother's family meal, but with Mickey still in the hospital she was pulling overtime to cover the workload. She pulls her suit jacket off the back of her chair and heads towards the lift.

Just as she is about to walk through the security gates in reception someone calls her name.

Rose sighs and pastes a smile on her face as she turns. "Yes?"

"There is a woman to see you Miss Tyler," the blonde receptionist tells her.

"I'm going home," Rose says impatiently.

"She really is insistent Miss Tyler. She will not speak to anyone else. She says she has information that you would want."

Rose checks her watch, looks wistfully at the exit, then says, "Take her to interview suite B. I'll be there in a moment."

After a most unpleasant conversation via her mobile to her mother to explain why is working late again, Rose heads to the interview suite. Hardly really even a suite, just a room beyond a two-way mirror with a table, some chairs, and voice and video recorders. Rose pauses to observe the woman. Blonde, hair tied back into a tidy ponytail. Black suit, almost as expensive as her own. Playing with a pendent around her neck. Pretty but tired looking, there are shadows under her eyes. Broken unpainted fingernails.

Rose opens the door and walks inside. "I'm Agent Tyler. You asked to speak to me?"

"Rose Tyler?" the woman brightens as Rose takes the seat opposite her and switches on the recorder.

"Who are you?" Rose asks suspiciously.

The woman ignores the question. "I have a story to tell you."

"Do you?" Rose folds her arms and wonders if this woman is another conspiracy nut job.

"I used to be like you," she says. "So full of the belief that we could make the world better." She twiddles the pendant, which Rose can now see is a ring threaded on a chain. "I always knew exactly what I was doing." She laughs harshly. "All fools they were, couldn't see what was right under their noses. But he did love me. He was a good man once. Once. It seems such a long time ago. He promised me he could show me the stars, such a romantic notion, little did I know."

"Why are you telling me this?"

The woman shushes her with a finger against her lips. "He was a great man, and he did love me. But it got twisted, warped along the way. So much that it became…" she hesitates. "We looked like the perfect couple. A fairytale. A castle in the sky. The King and Queen of the world residing in a floating palace. But _they_ had to spoil it! The three of them. The girl, the freak and Him. I think my husband cared more about what He thought more than he ever cared about me. But I love him. And I won't let him fade quietly into the night." She smiles slowly as though remembering. "He used to play with them. The freak used to scream. I used to stop up my ears but I could still hear him. Before the silence. And the pet, he used to get him out of the cage and play with him. Roll a ball, make him fetch, roll over, play dead. All in that tiny little suit, like an elf." She laughs. "They all think I'm crazy. And I know that they hated me. The maid – the one he told to stand there and look gorgeous; her mother; the freak…they all thought I had lost my marbles and I let them. Let myself go into that created madness so the two of them can read nothing but the drumming. The Doctor. Harry."

"The Doctor?" Rose leans forward and seizes the woman's wrist. "What do you know of the Doctor?"

"He looked at me with such pity when I pulled the trigger. Harry was so surprised. But he suddenly understood. The bruises, the drumming, none of it mattered. We _loved_ each other."

"What's your name?" Rose demands.

"Lucy," she says smiling. "Lucy Saxon."

* * *

The phone rings twice this time before she hangs up. She stares hard at the mobile in her hand and swallows. She needs to fix this somehow. Make it better. Make herself better. She redials the number again and before she can hang up, he answers in his cute American accent, "Hello?" A pause. "Are you going to talk to me or hang up again?"

"Hi Jack," she hesitates. "Its Tish Jones. Martha's sister? I don't know if you remember…"

He cuts her off. "I remember." His voice is suddenly quieter and sadder than before.

"I needed to talk."

She can almost hear his half-smile on the other end of the phone. "You've been dreaming about it."

Tish can hardly bring herself to answer. "Yes."

"Have you spoken to Martha?" he asks softly.

"She doesn't understand."

"I do."

Tish bites her lip at the sound of such concern in his voice. "I just needed to talk Jack."

"Oh Tish," he says sounding sad, "get on the train to Cardiff. I'll meet you at the station. Come tonight. We can talk properly. Please Tish."

Jack gives her a big hug as soon as he spots her on the station.

She smiles at him, while looking up at him from within the protective circle of his arms. It feels safe here, safer than she has felt in a long time. "Sorry to be a bother."

"No such thing," he says, keeping one arm around her as he steers her towards the SUV. He opens the door for her. "M'lady," he says smiling at her.

Tish cannot help but smile back at him. They drive in silence to the Hub, which he proudly shows her around. She stares round in bemusement at most of it, while Jack prattles on, before he eventually sits down on one of the couches. Tish sits nervously beside him. They have both been hoping to stave off the inevitable. They stare at one another.

"Have you?" she starts.

He nods. "Nearly every night."

She squeezes his hand and looks tearful. "Sometimes you were all that kept me going Jack. The thought of feeding you mashed swede. You always had a kind word or at least a smile…" she chokes down a sob. "Except when the Master…"

Jack sucks his breath through his teeth sharply.

"He wouldn't let us touch you. And I'm sure you don't remember." She sobs again, pressing her hand to her mouth. "Didn't you ever wonder why there wasn't any blood? I used to wipe it off your face with my own hands Jack because I didn't want you to…you don't deserve what he did to you."

Jack bites his lip and takes both her hands in his. "I'm sorry for that Tish, I really am. You should never have had to see that."

She starts to cry and Jack slides his arms around her, holding her close against his chest. He does not know exactly what the Master did to her and right now he can't bring himself to ask what she dreams of. She is shivering so he pulls his coat over the two of them. "You're safe here Tish, you are. He's dead. This is my place and nothing will happen to you here." He rocks the girl in his arms. "I'm here Tish sweetheart, its alright. You're safe." He presses his lips against her temple. "Ssshh you're safe here. I promise."

* * *

_Gwen can hear Owen talking very fast somewhere above her head but she can't quite make out exactly what he is saying. She tries to rouse herself to a more wakeful state but can hardly open her eyes. She is so cold and so tired. Hands seize her shoulders roughly and shake her._

"_Gwen Cooper you open your eyes and look at me this instant!" _

_She forces her eyes open and stares up at Ianto. "Little…forceful for…you…Ianto…" she stutters, teeth chattering. "Is that…your…bedroom voice for…Jack?" _

_He smiles at her, but it's strained. "You need to stay awake for me Gwen." He cups her cheek with his hand. _

"_But I'm so sleepy." She can feel her eyes drooping again. _

"_Hypothermia," Owen is muttering to Tosh. "We have to move somewhere else. We can't stay here waiting for Harkness to come running. He left __us__ remember?"_

"_I know," Tosh says, also through chattering teeth. She sounds upset. _

"_Gwen?" Owen is speaking to her now. _

_She flutters her eyes fully open again to look up at him. He is looking down at her with ill-disguised concern in his eyes. "You need to keep your eyes open Gwen."_

_She feels herself nod even as her eyes start to droop. Owen pinches her hard on the cheek. _

"_Ow!" Gwen's eyes flash open. "Owen that hurt!"_

"_Meant to. Stay with me Gwen."_

"_Where's Jack?" she can feel chilly tears on her cheeks. "He's meant to be here. He's…meant…to…be…"_

"_Gwen!" Ianto is shaking her again. "Gwen!"_

"Gwen?" She opens her eyes to find Rhys staring at her across the pillow. "Are you okay Gwen?"

She nods then shakes her head. "I don't know…weird dreams."

"Come here, you're shivering." He reaches out and touches her arms. "Bloody hell Gwen you're freezing!" He pulls her towards him, and wraps his arms around her. She starts to cry.

"Gwen? What is it?"

She hiccups. "I don't know."

Rhys tightens his arms around her and just holds her.

* * *

_She held her sleeve tighter over her mouth as she ran. She doesn't know where she is running to, just that she needs to get away. But there is nowhere to run and so many people are dead. The __metal spheres have killed so many. The air is thick with the smell of burning__ flesh and ash, and Toshiko wants to retch. She ducks into a doorway and wipes her stinging eyes, trying to keep from vomiting. Jack should be here. He should be here to save her. He had been before, when she needed him most. An angel standing in that doorway in his great coat, although she hadn't realised it at the time. She slides down the wall to rest on her heels. He is dead. He wouldn't let them go through all this alone if he was still alive. He wouldn't. Jack isn't like that. She presses her dirty knuckles against her eyes and wishes Ianto and Owen were with her…no actually she doesn't. She doesn't want them here in this. She wants them to live. Her own stubborn pride meant she took the risk of coming here alone while they continue north, and she is glad she pushed so hard. They'll realise soon enough what has happened to her. No one is getting out of this alive. But she wishes she could tell them goodbye, what they mean to her, a million things she will never say to those two brave men. Dear sweet Ianto. And Owen. Her darling Owen. She bites her lip as she thinks of the might have beens. And around her Japan burns._

Toshiko opens her eyes with a start and sits up in bed. She rubs her arms vigorously feeling the skin prickling as though she has sunburn. The dream had been so vivid. She looks at her alarm clock where the glowing green numbers tell her that it is three twenty seven a.m. She lies back down but does not fall asleep, lying awake and staring at the darkened ceiling. She cannot shake the feeling of despair that clings to her. Suddenly her mobile rings shrilly in the silence and she sits up, reaching for it.

* * *

"_We could be in Tintagel or Timbuktu for all I fucking care," Owen says petulantly turning over on the mat that is serving as a bed. He is uncomfortable and cold which is putting him in an even fouler mood than usual. _

_Ianto glares at him from the doorway of the tiny abandoned hut in which they are sheltering. "I highly doubt its either," he says argumentatively back, "I think its Kazakhstan."_

_"Bloody white cliffs of Dover for all the closer to Cardiff it is," Owen growls, punching the balled up winter survival coat that is his pillow. _

"_What?" Ianto frowns angrily at him, and sits down in the doorway, staring across the barren landscape towards the tiny dark smoke smudge that is surely Europe. They have heard tales of what has happened to Europe. He leans his elbows atop camouflage trouser clad knees. He had traded a pair of binoculars for the combat gear somewhere near the Russian border. It seems odd to see the tea boy looking ready to go to war. But since Jack left Owen doesn't know what Ianto is capable of anymore. _

"_Never mind." He sits up. They have been travelling for nine months. Hiking mostly, hitching lifts where they can, hiding from the __Toclafane. Staying nowhere for more than two nights. Not even stopping to mourn Gwen or Tosh properly. They'd left Gwen's body in the mountains, a grave in a pile of rocks. No one had got out of Japan. Well people on the road spoke of one, the mythical Martha Jones. Owen reckoned she was a complete load of bollocks. _

_Out of the corner of his eye he sees Ianto's hand stray to his gun. _

"_What is it?"_

"_I don't know," Ianto answers immediately, voice tense. _

_Owen tips dirt over the small fire they have going and it dies without a sound. He to reaches for his gun, another old Russian rifle like Ianto's, another product of the barter system, and crawls into the narrow doorway. His shoulder bumps the other man's, whose face is grim in the darkness, and Owen wonders at the twists of fate that meant Ianto was the one beside him. He would have expected Gwen most likely, or even Tosh; somehow Ianto – the tea boy – never crossed his mind as a survivor. _

_From somewhere comes the ominous sound of the Toclafane_ _but it is impossible to tell how close they are. _

_Owen nudges Ianto with his shoulder. "Ready?"_

_Ianto is biting his lip but nods back. "Ready." He nods the barrel of the rifle in a salute. "For Gwen."_

"_For Tosh," Owen replies._

"_For the girls," they say in unison and break cover of the hut. _

Owen wakes, sweating and staring at the ceiling where the lights from the traffic outside play across it. He can hear Ianto's voice ringing in his ears. Tosh! He sits up and reaches for his mobile on the beside table. He presses speed dial for her. The phone rings at the other end. "Pick up Tosh, pick up," he mutters to himself, all the while wondering why he feels the sudden urgent need to hear her voice.

"Owen?" she answers, sounding more awake than she should at thirty-eight minutes past three in the morning. "What do you want?"

"Nothing," he laughs to try and dispel the tension in his chest. "I…err…just had a weird dream…and now I feel like a complete idiot. Sorry to wake you. Night Tosh." He hangs up before she can reply.

* * *

_The drizzle is chilly and persistent. Ianto turns up the collar of his wool coat against the water that continues to get down his neck, looks furtively around and then crosses the street. He ducks into the shadows against the front of the building opposite and continues to hurry his way. Ianto runs down the steps that lead into the underground station. London at long last. Three hundred and sixty three days after they started. One left. He bangs on the wooden door in the hastily built wall. A tiny hatch opens and eyes look out._

_"Who are you?"_

_Ianto fakes a smile. "A fighter."_

_The hatch shuts again and the door opens. A safe house. Not many of those left in Britain. He enters and the rag tag group of people stare at him suspiciously for a moment before returning to their conversation. Martha Jones, the girl whose name is on everyone's lips, the saviour of all mankind, whose prophecy will come true in two days time if we believe. Ianto Jones is done with believing. He intends to keep walking, back to Wales, Cardiff, the Hub. On his hands and knees if he has to, because he is so very tired. He catches sight of himself in a grimy grey rectangle of a mirror set against one wall. A fighter, not Ianto Jones tea boy. A stranger wearing army boots and carrying a rifle over one shoulder, albeit with seriously limited ammo, and a pack on the other. He looks old. Scarred face. His hair has prematurely greyed round the temples. What would Jack think if he could see me now? Ianto suddenly wonders then catches himself. Jack is dead. They're all dead. He gives the mirror one last haunted look, and then sits himself away from the crowd. He coughs again. Bloody annoying cough that has dogged him for weeks now. He coughs harder and ignores the blood flecks in his hand. He wipes his hand on his trousers. He sometimes wonders how he managed to get so far on his own, after the others...But he already knows the answer. Jack Harkness. For some reason getting back to Jack is the one thing he has aimed for. He just wants to feel Jack's arms around him once more. God bloody Jack Harkness, that man ruined his life. Before him Ianto had never looked at a man that way, certainly wouldn't of called himself gay; it was only ever because of Jack being who he was, but Ianto isn't sure if he will ever be able to love someone else without thinking of Jack. But right now he is so tired. Ianto coughs again, his lungs burning, shuffles himself against the wall and closes his eyes. Jack swims behind his closed eyelids and Ianto lets the darkness wash over him, because he is so close. So close to Jack. He can hear him singing, "__Pack up your troubles in your old kit-bag, and smile, smile, smile. While you've a Lucifer to light your fag, smile, boys, that's the style. What's the use of worrying? It never was worth while, so pack up your troubles in your old kit-bag, and smile, smile, smile." And Ianto Jones lets out his last breath with a smile on his face. _

Ianto leaps out of bed and rushes to the bathroom. He crouches over the toilet bowl being violently sick. He doesn't notice the dark flecks of blood. Ianto coughs and wipes his mouth with the back of his hand and leans his cheek against the cool tile of the bathroom wall. Finally he pushes himself shakily to his feet and goes to the basin, where he rinses his mouth out and splashes cold water on his face. He stares at himself in the mirror above the basin. Just Ianto. The same face he sees everyday, but somehow right now he is surprised not to see the greyness in his hair, the stubble on his chin, the dead hardness that should be in his eyes. Should be. But isn't. Ianto turns and goes back to his bedroom. He picks up his watch from beside the bed and squints at it. Five thirty. He may as well stay up. Go to the Hub early. He won't be able to sleep now.


	2. Chapter 2

Thanks for all the story alert adds etc. Please review and let me know what you think. It lets me know people are reading and spurs me on!

_Italics are again dreams. _

* * *

If Ianto was surprised to find Jack and a girl curled up on the sofa asleep beneath Jack's coat, he didn't let it show. He fixes his face into perfect neutrality and goes to feed Janet the weevil without waking them. The other three team members all come in earlier than usual too much to his surprise. They gather silently in the small kitchen space while Ianto makes the coffee. The tension in the air is palpable as they keep sneaking glances at each other.

Owen tries a bit of levity. "Anyone see Jack's new bird?"

He gets no real response, other than a tightening of the muscles in Ianto's shoulders. They all lapse back into uncomfortable silence, broken only by the hiss of the coffee maker.

"Tosh?" Owen finally breaks the silence when he can't stand it anymore. "I'm sorry 'bout last night. Didn't mean to wake you."

"You didn't. I was awake anyway, weird dreams."

Gwen gratefully accepts the mug of steaming coffee from Ianto and cradles it between her hands as though trying to get warm. "Weird dreams? Me too. I think…"

"We died." Ianto looks at them all steadily, knowing instantly what happened in her dream somehow. "Well I died." He looks at the others who all nod. "It didn't feel like a dream did it?"

Owen gives him a grim half smile that suddenly seems more familiar than it should. "No."

Tosh shudders and rubs her arm, feeling the prickling burn again. "It felt like a memory."

Gwen looks nervously at Ianto. "You seem very calm about this."

"Oh believe me I'm not," Ianto says in return. He takes a deep sip of coffee feeling his throat stinging.

At that moment there is a loud call through the Hub. "Ianto Jones! Why is your cute suited arse not up in the Tourist Office? Anyone could walk in!"

The four of them spill out into the main Hub.

"Martha this is…unexpected," Ianto says as Martha Jones walks towards him, dragging a suitcase.

"Hi Ianto," she says wrapping her arms around him in a big hug. "Not unwelcome I hope?"

"Not at all." He smiles and hugs her back.

"Hey Owen. Hey Tosh, Gwen." She hugs them all in greeting. "Ianto any chance of a coffee? I'm parched."

"Sure thing." He vanishes back into the kitchen, still smiling.

Gwen eyes the suitcase. "Business or pleasure?"

"Unfortunately business." Martha continues. "I need to speak to your boss."

There is a crash from the kitchen.

"Martha?" The unfamiliar voice makes them all turn to look.

"Tish?" Martha stares in shock at her sister. "What are you doing here?"

Jack appears behind her, looking sleep crumpled and raking a hand through his hair. "Ah both Jones sisters, what a treat."

Owen snorts, just as Ianto reappears and hands Martha a cup. He doesn't offer one to Tish, merely fixes her with a cool look before turning away.

"I have news Jack. And you won't like it," Martha looks unhappy now.

Jack pulls a face. "Ianto a cup of coffee wouldn't go amiss right now?"

"Yes sir," Ianto says dully before muttering something under his breath, and going to get the coffee.

Martha raises an eyebrow. "Firstly though I'll ask why my sister is here?"

Tish looks at Jack. "I needed to talk to him."

Martha narrows her eyes. "You could of talked to me."

Her sister shakes her head. "You wouldn't understand."

Ianto reappears and instead of putting the coffee cup into Jack's outstretched hand like usual, puts it down with a bang on the edge of Owen's desk just out of his reach. Jack throws him a pained look and stretches for the cup. He takes a sip. "So tell me Martha Jones, what is your news?"

"Lucy Saxon has disappeared from the psychiatric facility she was placed in." Martha's medical training stops her referring to it as a nut house.

Both Jack and Tish's faces drain of blood.

"Lucy Saxon?" Gwen looks confused. "Wife of Harry Saxon, the prime minister who got assassinated?"

"I thought she retired from public life to the country or something," Owen says frowning. "She was hot too."

"Disappeared?" Jack recovers himself enough to ask. "How?"

Martha shrugs. "No one knows. She just vanished in the middle of the night. UNIT informed me."

"Have you called…?"

"He's not answering. I've left him messages. After R…" she hesitates.

"Rose," Jack bites his lip. "I haven't heard from him either."

"You don't think he could of…"

"He wouldn't." But Jack does not sound convinced by his own words. "He did tell me a storm was coming."

Tish is trembling at Jack's side and he puts an arm round her.

Ianto folds his arms, and purses his lips. "So the wife of Harry Saxon is, or was, locked in a mental facility?"

"Yeah," Martha answers him.

"I voted for him," Toshiko says disbelievingly.

"Me too," Ianto says not seeing the betrayed look Jack gives him.

"I did too," Owen says looking puzzled. "He was a good man…"

"No he wasn't!" Jack explodes at him, throwing his coffee cup to the ground where it shatters. "He was a monster!"

The team stare at him in shock. Ianto has taken a step towards him and stopped, looking nervous.

Jack looks at them all, his eyes haunted. "Let me tell you the truth about Harry Saxon."

* * *

_He knew he was dreaming. He could wake himself from this at any moment. But right now, any memory of her, even this one, he wanted to cling onto. She gives him that smile, the one that says 'Isn't this fun?, just another adventure, even as her feet are blown off the ground, and her hair whips round her face. Always the same. She always falls and he does nothing but scream her name, reach desperately for her. She falls away from him, her hand outstretched to his. But this time the ending is different. The man who materialises to catch her is not Pete Tyler. It's the Master. The Doctor tries to rouse himself from the nightmare but not soon enough to avoid seeing the Master stroke back Rose's hair gently from her face. Rose smiles up at him. The Master looks directly at the Doctor. "I'll be seeing you soon Doctor."_

* * *

_The Doctor hears himself cry out even as slim arms encircle his waist from behind and she presses her cheek against his shoulder blade. _

"_It will be alright killer," Lucy Saxon murmurs to him. "I'm here with you."_

"We need to find this man, Harry Saxon," Rose says as she hands the photographs to her three best agents. "It is highly likely that he will be suffering from amnesia and will not remember who he is. He may well have created a life – a false life – without knowing it. It is imperative that we find him. He needs to be brought here as soon as possible. Alive!"

The two men and one woman nod. Agent Drake, a blond haired man, and one of the most capable agents at Rose's disposal in Torchwood One, asks; "Is he dangerous?"

"Shouldn't be," Rose replies. "But he may resist you bringing him in." She looks at them a moment longer. "This a level one people. It needs to be handled as quietly and quickly as possible. Keep me updated."

"Yes Ma'am," they reply and leave her office.

Rose waits until the door closes behind them and sags into her chair. Mickey would be telling her off right about now were he here, about using work resources for her own personal gain. But if it's going to get her information on the Doctor then it is worth it. Let them try and stop me, she thinks suddenly, just let them try.

"He tortured me, and I died. Repeatedly."

Toshiko is leaning forward with her face in her hands. Owen looks angry. Gwen's hand is over her mouth and she is pacing back and forth. Ianto looks like he might be sick. "It was real. Its all real," he is muttering to himself.

Jack steps towards him, reaching for his shoulder. "Yan are you alright with this?"

Ianto shrinks back from his hand. "Don't call me Yan," he says.

Jack lets his hand drop. Ianto's voice is brittle and hard. A tone Jack isn't sure he has ever heard directed at him. The Welshman has backed up so he is standing with the other members of Torchwood. They have subconsciously manoeuvred themselves into a protective huddle. Owen and Ianto standing so close that their shoulders are touching; Owen's hand protectively on Tosh's shoulder; Gwen reaches for Ianto's hand and he lets her take it. They're a team. Jack isn't. Jack is on the outside looking in.

Ianto fixes him with an ice hard look. "We died Jack. All of us. We dreamt about it last night. A whole year Jack and you didn't tell us."

"You weren't supposed to remember!"

"But we do!" Ianto snaps back. "And you don't care enough to tell us what happened to us."

"Because I didn't know," Jack growls back.

Martha and Tish have remained silent throughout the exchange. Ianto suddenly snatches Owen's pistol from where he has carelessly – and against regulations – left it laying on his desktop. He points it at Jack. "Why didn't you talk to me? Instead of…her…" His lower lip is wobbling. "Tell me how it feels to die Jack. Because I only remember." His voice drips sarcasm.

Gwen and Toshiko stare wordlessly at him.

"Ianto!" Martha starts but Jack waves her back with a hand as Ianto continues his rant.

"Did you welcome it Jack? Did you want to die? Because I did!"

"You'd more easily kill me with the safety off Ianto," Jack says evenly, keeping his emotions hidden away. Ianto has freaked out like this before. They dealt with it then. They can again, as a team. But what frightens him most isn't Ianto aiming a gun at his head. It is the expression on Owen's face. He does not look in any way shocked, like he has seen Ianto holding a gun a million times, seen him screaming. A serene calmness in the face of Ianto's alien fiery anger. Ianto slams the gun back down on the desktop, turns and runs out of the Hub. Everyone stares after him for a moment.

"Jack?" Tosh stands up, her voice wavering.

Jack goes to her and pulls her to her feet and into a tight hug. "I'm sorry," he says sincerely. Gwen joins the hug silently and Jack pulls her in close. He looks at Owen who raises an eyebrow sceptically at him but takes the step closer that puts him within Jack's reach. Jack grabs the man by the shoulder and pulls him into the group hug. "I should have told you. We'll talk about what you remember. You can ask me anything. And I'll talk to Ianto." He awkwardly gives them all a squeeze, presses kisses to each of their heads where he can reach. "I really am sorry."

"Jack?" Martha asks a moment later. "What do we do about Lucy Saxon?"

"It can wait." Jack extracts himself from the group hug and heads for the lift.

* * *

He finds Ianto outside, leaning on a railing. His hands gripping it so hard that his knuckles are white. His cheeks are flushed pink, something that Jack normally finds so attractive in the other man, but now only serves to highlight his own fear about how strongly Ianto has taken this.

He stops a couple of paces behind him. "Yan?" he says quietly.

"Don't call me Yan," Ianto says, but his voice has lost its anger. "Go away sir."

"Not happening," Jack leans himself beside the younger man. Ianto slides his eyes away and Jack just waits, but Jack is not the most patient of men. He grabs hold of Ianto's chin and pulls it round to face him. "What did you dream about?"

Ianto's eyes are wide but still not quite looking at him. "I…" he licks his lips. You ruined my life Jack."

"Possibly. But you came to me remember?" Jack just looks at him evenly. "Where were you?" he asks gently.

"London. I was in London." He pauses. "We walked…from Nepal. Well I did. The others…they died."

That explains why Ianto reacted so strongly, thinks Jack even as he awkwardly pulls Ianto into an unwilling hug. Ianto does not pull away but he does not move his arms from his sides either. "Yan, I'm sorry."

Ianto finally meets his gaze. Jack's tone is so sincere that he can't help himself. Jack offers him a weak smile.

"Now you can either toddle off home and sulk or come back in and work on our big problem."

"Toddle?" Ianto raises an eyebrow.

Jack shrugs. "My mind went blank. So you're?"

Ianto sighs. "Working sir. So Lucy Saxon…" He notices Jack's face pale as he speaks. "Sir?"

Jack shakes his head. "I'm fine." He pastes a smile one his face and starts back towards the Hub. "Always fine."

* * *

"Good morning Mr Saxon," Rose sits down opposite the man. "I'm Rose Tyler." He is sat in interview suite B, with his elbows resting on the table. A normal looking man, dressed in blue jeans and a black v-neck jumper. Looking confused and a little scared.

He takes her offered hand and shakes it. "I think there has been some sort of mistake Miss."

Rose shakes her head. "We think you have amnesia Mr Saxon."

"What the hell are you talking about?" he says staring at her in confusion. "That's not my name. I'm Samuel Dexter, Sam."

The door to the room opens and Lucy Saxon walks in. Sam stares at her blankly. She drifts silently across the room, at the same time removing the chain from her neck and placing the ring in her hand.

"Hello Harry," she says smiling at him.

"My name is Sam! Who are you?"

"He doesn't remember," Rose says to Lucy.

Lucy shushes her. "He will." She comes to a stop beside Sam who stares at her in bewilderment. She raises her hand and smashes the ring against his temple. There is a blinding green flash and Sam screams. Both Rose and Sam are sent flying backwards off their chairs. Rose scrambles to her feet through the mass of papers, as Sam does the same.

He grins wickedly at Lucy. "I prefer it when you wear dresses."

"I know," she says back to him. "I love you Harry."

He sweeps her off her feet in a hug and spins her round, kissing her. "You and me baby, we're going to have some fun." He looks round and grins at Rose.

"What was that?" Rose asks Lucy who is staring into his eyes.

She doesn't look away from Sam, Harry, whoever he is. "My Master," she whispers.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Jack pauses behind Gwen's seat and gives her shoulder a squeeze. She glances up at him from her screen.

"You okay?" he asks.

"Little freaked out," she replies. "I mean a whole year. And you…"

"Don't ask Gwen. I can't talk about it. Not yet."

She smiles sadly at him. "Any luck reaching the Doctor?"

Jack shakes his head and walks over to Martha. "How you doing?"

She is sat on the arm of the sofa, with her arms folded. "Feeling useless."

"UNIT not helping?"

"They know less than we do."

Jack reaches out and cups her cheek. "We'll get through this."

Martha raises her eyebrows at him. "I think we should call it a night Jack. We've been staring at screens for thirteen hours and getting nowhere. And I think we've freaked Tish out enough today." She glances over at her sister who is sat on a chair worrying a fingernail between her teeth. "And my hotel is probably wondering why I haven't checked in yet."

Jack smiles. "I'd better send them home shouldn't I? I don't think any of them have eaten anything more than biscuits all day either."

Martha gives him a hug and goes to collect Tish and her suitcase before heading for the door.

"Guys," Jack calls to his team who all look up at him. "I think we should call it a night."

They all stare at him for a moment then return their faces to their screens. Okay so not calling it a night then. Jack grabs his phone and dials the number for the pizza place down the road. Might as well feed his team then. "Yeah hi, I'd like a large pepperoni, one medium Hawaiian, one medium hot 'n' spicy and a side of garlic bread. Yeah, yeah. Add a medium vegetarian supreme to that to. Yeah. Harkness."

* * *

"He's amazing mum. He has all these stories!"

Jackie Tyler rolls her eyes at her daughter who is still trying to talk around a mouthful of mashed potato. "If I didn't know better I'd say someone had a crush."

"What? Mum no!" Rose's cheeks colour instantly.

Jackie laughs and silence reigns for a few minutes except for Rose drumming her fingers on the tabletop. "Rose will you stop tapping, it's really annoying."

Rose looks down at her hand. "Sorry, didn't realise I was doing it."

Jackie looks at Pete. "So this Harold Saxon guy, what's he like?"

Pete shrugs. "Dunno. Haven't met him. Just signed the papers to put him and this woman up in one of our safe houses for the night." He looks at Rose who is staring wistfully into space. "Don't pin all your hopes on this being the thing Rose. We've been down this road before."

Rose is about to retort when the doorbell rings. She hurries to answer it.

"Mickey!"

"Hi babes," he grins at her. He is leaning on crutch but looks well despite it.

Rose gives him a careful hug. "You should have called!"

"I did. I called the office. You were out." He raises an eyebrow at her. "Something big happening?"

She grins happily at him. "Maybe the biggest."

Mickey raises the other eyebrow and hobbles into the hallway. "Biggest biggest?"

"I hope so."

"What we got?" he asks suddenly all business.

Rose leads him towards the dining room. "Let me tell you all about Harry."

* * *

_"Is that Torchwood Three?" The man's voice is silky smooth over the phone line._

"_Yes. Gwen Cooper speaking." Gwen cradles the phone in the crook of her neck and accepts the coffee cup Ianto has just handed her. She takes a grateful sip of the hot liquid and nearly spits it out again when the man on the other end of the phone says, "My name is Harry Saxon. I don't believe I've had the pleasure of speaking to you before."_

"_Uh…uh…sir. How can I…How can I help?"_

_The Prime Minister laughs lightly at the other end. "Please call me Harry. I'm just sorry this is a business call. There is a serious threat to British interests brewing in the Himalayas. I need you and your team to go investigate for me."_

"_Us? I don't know if we're equipped for the Himalayas."_

_Ianto's head shoots up and he stares at her. "Himalayas?" he mouths at her silently. _

_Gwen nods impatiently. Ianto throws his hands up in the air and wonders where he can get climbing gear, survival equipment and possibly a Sherpa on such short notice. _

"_Oh but I'm asking for __you__ personally Miss Cooper." His tone takes on mock-sadness. "Please don't let me down. I would simply hate to have to call Torchwood Two."_

"_Torchwood Two? We'll do it. Only…"_

"_Only what?" His voice is all concern._

"_Captain Harkness is missing."_

"_I'll deal with Jack when I see him Miss Cooper, don't you worry your pretty head about that. Pass my regards to your team won't you? I'll have the Secretary of State e-mail you the details and plane tickets."_

"_Yes sir…Harry. Thank you."_

"_Oh and Gwen?"_

"_Yes?"_

"_Do this job well and I may be in a position to reward you all handsomely."_

"_Thank you sir." The phone clicks off just as Owen and Tosh bundle into the main room. Owen clicks the television on._

"_Watch this!" he demands of Ianto and Gwen. _

_On the screen a grainy CCTV image of Jack Harkness, another man in a long coat and a black girl shows them running down a half-deserted high street._

"_Jack!" Ianto says in shock stepping closer. _

_The news feed reel at the bottom of the screen scrolls on repeating the words 'Do Not Approach. If seen please call…'_

"_What?" Ianto looks confused. "Jack couldn't…he wouldn't…"_

"_Be Britain's most wanted?" Owen asks. "He could and he would."_

"_But he wouldn't!" Ianto insists._

"_He's probably loving it!"_

"_Enough!" Gwen snaps. "We have more important business at hand. I just spoke to Prime Minister Saxon..." _

Toshiko's head is in Owen's lap; he is snoring lightly with his head laid back on the sofa; Gwen is curled up with Ianto's arm around her shoulders and there is a pizza box in his lap. His head is resting in his hand, with his elbow propped on the arm of the sofa. Jack pauses to look at them before snagging the last slice of pepperoni from the box. He hadn't had the heart to wake them and send them home when they finally dozed off around midnight. Seemed an unnecessary cruelty in the light of everything.

He flips open his mobile phone and presses the speed dial for the Doctor. He holds the phone in the crook of his neck and folds the pizza slice in half between his hands. He listens to it ring and waits for the answer phone to kick in. There is a soft click as the phone is answered. Jack's head shoots up and he fumbles not to drop the phone. The pizza is left hanging, forgotten, in his other hand.

"Doctor?"

The voice on the other end is low and hard. "Stop calling me, Jack."

"Doctor, please listen…"

"Goodbye Jack."

The phone clicks as the Doctor hangs up.

Jack swears loudly at the phone, stuffs the whole pizza slice in his mouth and redials. The phone rings once then clicks straight to the answer phone. He swears again round the mouthful of pizza.

"Wha?" Ianto sits up straight, suddenly awake. "Jack what's wrong?"

Gwen is blinking herself awake, having been disturbed by Ianto moving.

Jack waves the phone at him and mumbles round his mouthful of pizza. "Hmmmpphh Doctor mmmhmmph."

Ianto pulls a face. "That's disgusting sir." He gently unhooks his arm from around Gwen. "Gwen? Time to wake up."

"Rhys?" she mumbles.

"No it's Ianto." He strokes her cheek softly with a hand. "Wake up Gwen."

Suddenly she sits up, giving a half scream. Ianto jerks his hand away like he has been shocked. He suddenly remembers. Remembers something that did not really happen. Like she is. You died. You died because I couldn't keep you awake. And I stroked your face right before you died.

Toshiko nearly rolls off the sofa in fright and Owen swears, "Fuck Gwen! I like women to wake me up in nicer ways!"

Toshiko sits up and fusses with smoothing down her hair, not looking at Owen, trying to pretend she hasn't spent the night drooling into his crotch.

Gwen and Ianto are staring at each other, wide eyed. They can see their own thoughts mirrored in each other's eyes.

"Are you alright Gwen?" Jack asks. He reaches for her shoulder. She stands suddenly and buries her face against his chest. He pauses, surprised for a moment, then wraps her arms around her.

Ianto pushes himself off the sofa. "I'm so sorry Gwen." He turns and disappears into the kitchen where he leans against the worktop breathing hard.

"Yan?" Tosh creeps into the kitchen behind him. "Are you okay?"

He turns and can't help but smile at her sleep rumpled hair. "Not really," he finally answers. "How is Gwen?"

"Shaken but okay. Owen threatened her with a tranquilliser if she didn't calm down."

He smiles very weakly. "Good." Ianto tries to smooth down his crumpled suit jacket with one hand, obsessively pressing down one particular crease over and over again, so he does not have to look at her.

"Stop that!" Tosh grabs hold of his hand and roughly strips the jacket off him. "There that's better."

Ianto blinks at her. "Okay. If that's your seduction technique I'm in."

She flashes him a smile at his attempt to change the subject. "Tell me what you saw."

Ianto swallows. "Gwen died. In the mountains. She died. I couldn't keep her awake and she died."

"Oh Ianto." Tosh puts her arms around him. He lowers his head to rest it on her shoulder and hide the angry tears he can feel coming. Angry at himself. She presses a kiss just behind his ear. "Its alright. We've got each other. We're a team remember."

Ianto raises his head just as Jack walks into the kitchen.

Tosh glances between them. "I'll go see if Owen and Gwen have killed each other yet," she says tactfully and retreats.

"Yan…"

"Don't sir…"

"Don't what?" Jack raises an eyebrow and traps Ianto against the worktop between his arms. "Care? That's never happening." He leans in and stares into the other man's eyes. "I promise you that."

Ianto breathes out shakily. "I meant don't ask me how I am. I'm not fine with this sir. I don't like who I became…who I could become." He swallows. "And I became that man for y…"

Jack cuts him off with a sharp kiss. Ianto blinks surprised. Jack pulls back, gives his hand a squeeze, turns and walks out of the room leaving Ianto staring at his back.

* * *

"You're going out?" Jackie raises her eyebrow as she stands in Rose's doorway.

Rose hooks her earring through her earlobe and looks at her mother reflected in the mirror. "Yeah."

"Again?"

Rose pouts her lips into the mirror to check her lipstick, and turns, scooping up her jacket as she does so. "What? I'm meeting Harry and Lucy."

Her mother rolls her eyes. "That's all we hear from you these days. Harry this, Lucy that. Harry said this. Just going out with Harry. Lucy this, Harry that."

"No it isn't!" Rose protests. "I just like them, that's all."

"I think you like him. Be careful Rose, he's a married man remember?"

"What? I don't…Mum!"

Jackie just smiles knowingly and disappears from the doorway. A moment later Mickey is standing there, leaning on the doorway.

"Not you too," Rose says petulantly.

Mickey looks steadily at her. "Be careful Rose. I don't like this."

"Don't like what?" she shrugs her jacket on over her dress.

"Harry Saxon. Something is off about him."

"You only met him once!"

"Once was enough! I know they say they knew the Doctor but Rose, don't you think it's a little odd that they can appear here and he can't?" She folds her arms as he continues. "Have you even asked Lucy how she got here? I think you need to ask these things Rose."

Rose nods. "I know I should…but I get with them and we just have so much fun that it never seems the right time y'know?" She glances at her watch. "I've got to go Mickey." She crosses the room to him and presses a kiss on his cheek. "Be good."

"Be careful." He suddenly has a strange feeling in the pit of his stomach. "Love you babes."

She frowns at him oddly. He hasn't told her he loves her since he got shot and thought he was going to die. "Bye Mickey."

"Bye Rose."

* * *

"How did you get here?" Rose presses Lucy once they are settled at a table in the very exclusive, posh London bar. A proper black tie venue.

She just smiles mysteriously. "He told me how." She smoothes a non-existent wrinkle from the skirt of her long red dress.

"I need to know."

Harry places a hand on Rose's arm. His fingers are cool against her skin, despite the heat in the room. "All in good time Rose." He is wearing a smart black suit and bowtie, looking completely at ease in the formal wear.

"But how did the Doctor never find a way if you could?" she asks, unable to let it go. "How do you know the Doctor anyway?"

"We're old old friends," Harry says smiling, his brown eyes twinkling. "And there are some things the Doctor just doesn't think of."

"But Mickey said…"

He raises an eyebrow and looks her directly in the eye. "Mickey? And since when do you really care what Mickey thinks?"

Rose bites her lip hesitantly, suddenly unsure why she is following Mickey's paranoid line of reasoning.

"You're old enough to think this through yourself Rosebud," he says gently to her, the nickname seeming both affectionate and innocent at the same time. "A drink is in order I think don't you?" he says reaching for the bottle.

Rose sips the glass of champagne Harry has just poured for her and smiles at him. "You shouldn't have bought this."

"Nonsense," he says back. "Why shouldn't we celebrate?" He holds up his glass in a toast to the two women and smiles wolfishly. "We're all going to get what we want."


	4. Chapter 4

I'm sorry, I have rather neglected this story somewhat. New job has eaten into my time no end - This is why I hate temping!

PLEASE read and review. It seems to spur me on if I know people are reading.

Warning: From this point on the story will get pretty dark. There is torture scenes so be warned!

* * *

Chapter 4

_"One down, three to go."_

_Rose is staring at him with dead eyes, nothing but white showing. _

"_Rose," he hears himself calling to her but she does not react._

"_One down, three to go," she repeats. She sounds like she is hypnotised. They are standing in the middle of a deserted Torchwood Three. _

_Then she blinks and rivulets of blood run down her face in thick tear tracks. He runs to her and grabs her in his arms. _

"_Rose!" His voice wavers with fear. "Rose listen to me! I love you!"_

_There is a laugh from behind him and he whirls to come face to face with the smirking face of the Master. "She's mine now Doctor."_

"_Over my dead body!" He knows the Master and all his old tricks._

"_Oh I sincerely hope so." He smiles and raises one finger. "One down, just the girlie, the freak and you to go. And I think I've got you already." The Master circles him and goes to Rose's side, slips an arm around her waist. _

_Rose turns her eyes to him. "I love you Master."_

_The Doctor raises his fist and punches out at the Master. There is a flash of white in his eyes and when he regains his vision, Rose is laying on the floor unconscious from his punch and the Master is laughing. The Doctor takes two strides over to a desk where Jack's pistol is laying and snatches it up. _

_The Master laughs. "Really Doctor using a gun? So common and barbaric for you."_

"_For you I'll make a fucking exception!" The Doctor hardly recognises his own voice. _

_The Master laughs again. "Exception or not Doctor, you can't heal her now. You never could."_

_The Doctor tightens his finger on the trigger but does not pull it. He notices the muzzle of the gun wavering. _

"_Rose wake up," he can hear the pleading in his voice._

_The Master kneels beside Rose and gently kisses her on the lips. He looks up at the Doctor, eyes bright. "She can hear the drumming."_

The Doctor wakes with a jolt from where he has fallen asleep on the console. He blinks sleep from his eyes and wonders why he keeps dropping off recently. Its not as if he really needs to sleep. But the last ten days, ever since Rose left, he can't help himself falling asleep.

Both of his hearts are thundering in his ears with adrenaline and suddenly he knows what he has to do. The storm is about to break.

* * *

Lucy shakes her head. "I'm tired. Harry you have far too much energy tonight."

He smiles at his wife. "It feels like a storm is coming." He extends his hand to Rose. "May I have this dance then?"

Rose glances at Lucy. "If your wife doesn't mind."

Lucy smiles and waves a hand. "Let him exhaust you." She picks up her glass of champagne and takes a sip. She and Harry exchange a look that Rose doesn't understand the meaning of.

Rose takes Harry's hand and lets him lead her onto the dance floor. He slides his arms around her and they start to dance. They are dancing for a few minutes when he pulls her a bit closer. Rose swears for a moment that she can feel the double thump of two hearts against her then dismisses it. Harry Saxon is just a man. A married man who she is just friends with. Her mum is wrong. Completely wrong.

"Rose?" his voice is little more than a whisper.

She looks up to find him staring down at her. His eyes surprisingly intense.

"Harry?" she asks, finding her own voice rises barely above his. "What is…?"

He cuts her off. "I'm so happy I found you Rose Tyler," he says tenderly.

She frowns slightly, not understanding where he is going with this but feels unable to take her eyes from his. He lifts a hand from her back and gently cups her cheek. "My little Rosebud," he says before he leans down and kisses her. His lips are soft against hers and Rose finds herself kissing back. His other hand rests on the small of her back. He deepens the kiss, his tongue caressing gentle entrance into her mouth. Rose starts to feel a bit dizzy, but can't make herself pull away. She lets her tongue tussle with his. Her hands grip fiercely into his back and she feels her knees start to buckle. Harry tightens his arm around her back to hold her to him. Rose is acutely conscious of his cool fingertips against her face. How can he be so cool when she feels like she is burning up? She can feel her heart thudding a strange rhythm in her temples and wonders again why it feels like his heart is beating double time against her chest. At this moment she wants him so badly and she can tell he wants her. Right now she just wants him to keep kissing her. She doesn't want to think about what will happen if he stops. The air feels like it does before a thunderstorm, electric and making the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. The noise of the bar seems to fade away to a indistinct roaring around them. Harry's hand slips to the back of her neck, deepens the kiss even as Rose thinks it couldn't get more intense. The hand on her lower back pulls her body full length against his, and the thudding of his heart beats against her breasts.

A voice intrudes suddenly on the moment, slightly petulantly and put out. "Harry?"

* * *

Jack has gone to see Martha and Tish and the team are trying to research when the explosion sends them all sprawling. Ianto manages to lift his head, which he thinks he may have hit on a desk, and sees the man standing next to the burning column that is the rift monitor. Leaning against his side, dazed but conscious, is a blonde in a red ball gown. Laying bridal style in his arms is another blonde in a black dress, younger than the first, unconscious, with a trickle of blood coming from her nose. Ianto can hear Tosh groaning somewhere. He blinks and tries to clear the ringing in his head. Maybe he is an angel he thinks suddenly, his mum's bible stories coming unbidden to his mind. Descending in flames. He dismisses the thought just as quickly. The man pays no heed to the dying fire of the rift monitor, just stares round the room with childlike delight.

"Harry it worked!" the first blonde exclaims happily.

"You," he dimly hears Owen exclaiming. "You're him...Saxon."

Harry Saxon smiles. "So you're Harkness's crack team are you?"

Ianto thinks he hears Tosh start to cry before he passes out. Of Gwen he hears nothing at all.

* * *

He awakes in the cells. Ianto can hear a weevil growling on the other side of the wall.

Owen is pacing against the glass. "Thought you'd never bloody wake up."

Ianto rubs his head. "What happened?"

"Saxon bloody did. So much for dead like Jack said he was. Dunno who the birds with him were. Didn't get a good enough look."

Ianto pushes himself to his feet, holding on to the wall for support. "The girls?"

Owen nods his head to the cell next door. "Tosh is in there. We were talking before you woke up. She's okay. We don't know where Gwen is."

"Tosh?" Ianto calls towards the wall.

"Yan?"

"How you doing?" Ianto asks.

"I'm fine. How are you?"

Ianto rubs his head and winces at the egg-sized bump on the back of it. "I think I'll live. Maybe concussion at worst."

"What do we do?" she asks worriedly.

Ianto looks at Owen who is staring at the blistering red burn on his left arm. Owen looks up at him. "I'll be fine."

"I don't know Tosh," Ianto says worriedly to her question. "Hub is in lock down I assume?"

At that moment the woman in a red dress appears at the glass in front of the men's cell. Owen leaps to his feet and throws himself against it.

"You bitch! You let us out right now!"

She actually giggles at him and leans to one of the holes in the glass. "No."

Owen thrusts a two fingers pointlessly through the hole and she jerks back. "You fucking whore!"

She pouts at him, blows him and Ianto a kiss and smiles. "You're going to be sorry," she says turning and leaving the corridor.

Owen slams his hand against the glass. "Fuck!"

* * *

Rose was still unconscious and had been unceremoniously dumped on the sofa. Lucy hovered about the room, delighting in the curious alien artefacts she was finding.

The Master and Gwen were down in the morgue. Gwen was sat on a chair, her arms tied painfully behind her, pinioned at her elbows and bound at the wrists, and her legs bound to the chair legs.

The Master is reading aloud from a printed off copy of her records. "Gwen Cooper...ex copper...yadda yadda yadda." he grins at her ferally. "You know who I am Gwen?"

"Harry Saxon," she says ashamed to hear her voice falter with fear.

He laughs. "Yes, and no. You shall come to call me Master." He throws the file to one side dismissively. "You do have such pretty hair," he says reaching out to stroke it.

Gwen jerks her head away. "Fuck off!"

Harry grabs a handful of her hair in his fist and yanks on it. "I'll teach you how to take a compliment you little bitch." He leans back and grabs a pair of scissors from the autopsy table. Gwen recognises them as the ones that Ianto keeps in the stationary tidy on his desk. Last Christmas they used them to cut out snowflakes. She hisses under her breath as he yanks her head over to the side. She sees the scissors flash silver over her face and for one horrible moment thinks he means to stab out her eyes.  
But she hears the snip and the pressure on her head is released. Her hair. The bastard cut off her hair. One side now hovers uncertainly at about ear level.

"You fucking bastard!" she bellows at him, in what Rhys jokingly calls her rugby voice.

He tuts at her with his tongue. "Language young lady. You don't want me to..."

She shuts her mouth and shakes her head. "Where are the others?"

"Safe," he grins like a snake. "For now."


	5. Chapter 5

I am SO sorry, I totally lost track of my stories and didn't realise I hadn't posted the end of this one! I am so so sorry to anyone reading it!.

Warning: there is some graphic (ish) torture in this part so you have been warned.

Some of the spacing has gone a bit weird but think its all readable. I'm still debating about if this is the end or not. Please comment and let me know what you think!

* * *

Charpter 5

Jack pokes his head round the door of their room.

"Decent I sincerely don't hope?"

"Come in Jack, and yes I'm decent," Tish calls softly from the bathroom. "Martha's asleep still."

He shuts the door quietly behind him, glances at the lump which is the sleeping Martha, and without asking, flops himself across Tish's bed. She walks into the room, gives him a look and plonks herself beside him.

"What do you want?"

"Seeing if you're okay," he says from his prone position.

"I'm fine."

"Really?"

She deflects the question. "Martha tried calling the Doctor again."

"So did I. He answered, told me to stop calling him, then hung up."

Tish blinks. "That's…"

"Not like him? I know." Jack stares hard at her.

Tish looks away. "What do we do Jack?"

"Hey," he says gently. "We'll be okay Tish. But I'm here, if you need me. For anything." He stresses the last word with a naughty grin.

She can't help but laugh. "So where are we?"

Jack traces a finger in circles on the bedspread. "I think it's called a bed sweetheart."

She playfully pushes him in the shoulder. "I meant with the research."

"Not good," Jack says honestly. "My team are freaked out and I have no ideas. Not one. Well none that make any real sense."

"Well that's a first surely?"

He nods. "We'd better wake Martha hadn't we?"

_Martha leaps nimbly off the small boat, nods thanks to the young man who had rowed her into the lagoon, and starts off between the buildings. She hefts her pack on her shoulder, and walks down a dark narrow alley between two high buildings. She comes out beside a canal and wrinkles her nose. She'd always said she wanted to see Venice, but now in the middle of August, it stinks to high heaven. The stench is made worse by the rotting bodies in the water. The Toclafane hit Venice hard. Martha pulls the collar of her jacket up over her mouth and nose. _  
_She walks alongside the canal until she reaches a small vaulted bridge and crosses over the sludgy canal, pausing a moment to glance down the length of the dark canal. In the faint moonlight that shines weakly between the buildings she can make out the bridges fading into the dark distance. The shadows beside the buildings are black as pitch. She leans on the parapet of the bridge and for a fleeting moment she thinks she sees the shape of the Doctor running over a bridge ahead of her, coat flapping behind him, grinning like a madman. Her fingers tighten on the stone and she wants to shout after the phantom. But it isn't him. Never is. Just shadows and moonlight. In that moment she really truly hates him. Right down inside herself the hate burns like acid in her belly. She tastes bile, bitter in the back of her throat. He sent her to do this. The Doctor made her do this. She releases her fingers from the bridge and starts onwards into the darkness. She hates him. Sometimes she wishes she were dead. She is so tired and frightened and sick of telling the same story day after day. She hates him. She hates Jack for pressing his wristband into her hands. She stops and leans against a wall, the shadows so dark that she can hardly see her hand in front of her face. Hot tears start to splash down her nose. Martha cannot remember the last time she cried. Possibly India. Maybe on the boat fleeing the burning islands of Japan. She tries not to think of things that will make her cry. Her family...they could be dead. But she believes the Master will keep them alive merely to spite her. The Master. Her stomach ties itself into a hard knot of fear. The Doctor and Jack are at the mercy of a madman. No not a man, a crazed Time Lord. She hates them all. She wishes they were dead. So she could have the weight of worry lifted from her shoulders. So she can lie down and just rest. Sleep easy. No more nightmares. Martha wipes hurriedly at her eyes and hates herself for thinking that. She can't stay still. She's got to keep moving. Martha straightens herself and walks down the street. The city seems deserted but she knows better than to believe that. They'll be pockets of people, hiding out in cellars and safe houses and such. _  
_Another bridge over a body choked canal into a small square. The moonlight is brighter here, finding a way through the over crowded buildings. A church stands at one end so she heads towards it hoping her contact has got there safely. Suddenly she hears a noise behind her, a shuffle of boots on stone. Martha whirls round to see a man standing on the bridge behind her. She knows instantly he isn't her contact. Her contact is a woman. He steps into a puddle of moonlight. Dark messy dirty hair, thick dark stubble on his chin, long scar running across his cheek. Long dark coat despite the humidity, over combat fatigues and army boots. Rifle on one shoulder, pack on the other. She wonders if he is a collaborator, some people are. He smiles grimly at her. _  
_"You're not a load of bollocks then."_  
_Welsh accent. Slight amusement. _  
_"No I'm perfectly real."_  
_He smirks. "I'd avoid the Ukraine. Nasty shit there."_  
_"Thanks," she says eying the gun warily. "Where are you going?"_  
_He coughs then shrugs. "Cardiff eventually. You?"_  
_"London," she replies. "If I make it."_  
_The man nods. She notices his eyes are sad, older than they should be. Suddenly so like Jack's if that is possible. His cheeks are sunken from hunger. He doesn't look well. He coughs again. _  
_"Are you alright? I'm a doctor."_  
_He shakes his head. "I don't need a doctor."_  
_I do, thinks Martha. Even if I hate him._  
_The man turns and starts back over the bridge. "Wait!" she calls, "I don't even know your name!"_  
_"I'm just a fighter," he calls back, voice tainted with bitterness. "What's the point of a name when everyone who knew it is dead?"_  
_Martha strains her eyes after him in the darkness, and then when she is sure he has gone turns and enters the church. It is empty. Martha walks silently down the aisle before dropping into the front pew. She stares up at the crucified Christ over the alter and for some reason an image of the Doctor comes into her mind. I hate you, she thinks again, aiming her loathing towards the religious icon in front of her and feels guilty as she does._  
_"Martha?" a voice calls from the vestry._  
"Martha? You with me?"  
"Jack?" she opens her eyes to find him looking down at her.  
"Morning sleepy head," he says smiling down at her. "Tish let me in. It's nearly eleven. Hey are you alright?"  
Martha shakes her head, feeling bile rising in the back of her throat. "Ask Ianto if he remembers Venice." She doesn't know why she is suddenly so sure that the man on the bridge was Ianto Jones.  
"Ianto?" Jack blinks at her. "What?"  
She nods, not trusting herself to answer in case she vomits. Jack stares at her with concern in his eyes for a moment. Martha blinks away the tears she can feel forming as Jack pulls out his phone and calls the Hub.  
"Yan?"  
She sees Jack's eyes widen.  
"What?" she mouths at him.  
"WHERE ARE THEY?" Jack bellows suddenly down the phone, making Tish and her jump. "I swear..."  
"Tut tut Captain. Swearing in front of a young lady. Oh yes I know where you are. Do say hello to Miss Jones for me."  
The Master sits on the edge of the autopsy table and smiles at Gwen who sits fearfully on the chair in front of him, still bound, her hair ragged about her ears.  
"Talk to your boss sweetheart," he orders holding the phone up to her ear.  
"Jack?"  
"Gwen! What's going on?"  
"He just appeared in the middle of the Hub! Jack this man and two women..."  
"Two women?"  
"Yeah blondes. I didn't really see them! Jack please! He locked the others up in the cells. I'm in the medbay."  
"I'm coming Gwen! Hold on!"  
The Master yanks the phone away. "Thing I can't figure Jack is which one is your favourite? Maybe Miss Cooper here or the pretty Miss Sato or the foul mouthed doctor Harper or the Welsh tea boy?"  
"You leave him alone!" The words are out of his mouth before he thinks about it.  
"Him? Which one of them is it Harkness? I'll bet they can't last as long as you did."  
"Lay one finger on them and I'll tear you limb from limb!" Jack shouts down the phone.  
The Master's voice lowers to barely a whisper. "I'll do more than lay a finger on them freak." Jack hears Gwen shriek before the phone goes dead. He stares at the phone in his hand for a moment.

"Jack?" Tish asks nervously.

Jack looks at Martha with his eyes full of fear. "He's back."

* * *

The phone clicks as he answers.  
"The Master is back." Jack says quickly before the Time Lord can hang up.  
The phone goes dead in his hand.  
The TARDIS materialises almost immediately in the middle of the hotel room. The door comes flying open, and the Doctor steps out. He is wearing his pinstriped suit trousers and a white shirt, and his head is dripping blood from an ugly cut above his eyebrow. The front of his shirt is stained with it, and it is running down his face, obscuring his right eye with red.  
"What the hell happened to you?" Jack demands of him without greeting.  
The Doctor refuses to meet his eyes.  
"Doctor!" Martha exclaims. "Are you hurt anywhere else?"  
He shakes his head. Tish is staring at him in shock. He suddenly notices her and grins through the blood, looking like something from a horror movie. "Tish Jones! How are you?"  
"F...Fine," she stutters.  
Martha appears from the bathroom holding a wet towel. "Here," she thrusts it at the Time Lord. "And hello to you too."  
"Hello," he mumbles sheepishly from behind the towel, holding it to his head.  
"Doctor what did you do?" Jack demands roughly grabbing hold of his arms.  
The Doctor fixes him with an icy look, through the blood. "I did warn you Jack. I told you a storm was coming."  
"You didn't!"  
"Didn't what?"  
"Don't play dumb Doctor," Jack snarls at him. Tish and Martha involuntarily take steps backwards. "Lucy. Lucy Saxon. Someone let her out. And now we have the Master and that crazy bitch holding my team hostage!"  
"Lucy?" The Doctor stares at him in bafflement. "I didn't do that Jack."  
Jack falters. "You didn't?"  
"No Lucy did that on her own."  
"But she's crazy!" Tish says bitterly. "How does a crazy person just escape from a nuthouse?"  
The Doctor ignores her for the moment. "You think I did this?"  
"Then what did you do?" Jack demands ignoring the question. "I know you did something.  
"I..." he pauses.

"WHAT DID YOU DO?" Jack bellows in his face.

Tish and Martha have retreated fearfully to the edges of the room. The Doctor's gaze is at the floor. Jack shakes him roughly. Martha does not remember ever seeing Jack this angry.

"TELL ME WHAT YOU DID!"

The Doctor looks up and catches Jack's furious gaze. "I tried to open the rift."

"What?" Martha and Jack say as one.

"Don't worry, it didn't work. The TARDIS is smarter than she looks, and decided to blow up in my face before she'd let me do it. Hence the head wound."

Jack lets his hands drop. "Smart machine."

"Yeah," the Doctor says. Then he is suddenly all business. "Well is this it? I obviously can't take the TARDIS near the Master."

"He knows where we are," Jack says worriedly. "And he's got another blonde accomplice."

The Doctor blinks, his dream worming its way back into his consciousness. "Blonde?"

"That's what Gwen said. So what do we do?"

"We need a new base of operations."

Jack blinks at the rapid change of direction. "I know just the place."

* * *

Gwen stares up at the ceiling and hears the Master's last words to Jack. She listens as he clicks the mobile phone shut. He throws the phone down onto the metal autopsy table with a dull clunk and looms over her. He smiles down at her.  
"Now Miss Cooper what are we going to do with you?"  
He vanishes from her view again. She twists her head but his feet have vanished from the pit. Her arms, now trapped beneath her own weight and the computer chair, are screaming in agony. She tries to shift her weight and release some pressure but she can't work out how. Footsteps approach and she turns her head to see a pair of men's shiny black dress shoes beside her face. Gwen trails her gaze upwards and the Master smiles at her. In his hands is her own pistol. He aims it between her eyes. Gwen feels herself going slightly cross-eyed as she focuses on the barrel. Is she going to die here? Her blood splattered up the white tiles? Will Jack freeze her body in one of his drawers? She is never going to see Rhys again. Will Jack pack him up with all her belongings? She starts to cry and the Master laughs again and pulls the trigger. Gwen flinches, as it does nothing but click. The Master finds this hysterical, before throwing the gun away to one side. It clatters somewhere on the tiles off to her left.

"Guns are so very primitive," he says conversationally. "I'm sure we can more imaginative than that." He holds up what looks like Ianto's laser pointer and a few bits of alien origin up in his hands. "You Torchwood types are always so helpful."

* * *

Rhys opens the front door, wearing only a towel and a glare. He is dripping from his shower that they have obviously interrupted. He sees Jack at the head of the group gathered outside his front door and his frown gets deeper.  
"Bloody hell Jack," he says recognising Gwen's boss, "Gwen worked all night, now what do you want?"  
Jack sweeps past him into the flat. "Its gone midday Rhys late start?"  
"Its my day off alright?" Rhys responds defensively as the Doctor, Martha and Tish edge past him inside. He sighs and shuts the door behind them. "Where is Gwen anyway?"  
Jack gives him a steady look, and Martha wonders for a moment how he will explain their present situation away.  
"Rhys, we work for a top secret government organisation called Torchwood. We fight aliens and the supernatural, and the rest of my team have been captured by a madman who used to be the Prime Minister who may well try and kill them."  
The Doctor raises an eyebrow. "That was...direct."  
Rhys starts to laugh then stops abruptly when he realises no one else is laughing. "What?" He stares as Jack. "So that Owen bloke? Tosh? Ianto?"  
"Why is everything so disbelieving about Ianto?" Jack sighs. "Yes all of them. We need a base and you're it."

Rhys blinks. "What?"

The Doctor steps forwards. "I really am sorry for the intrusion but Jack is right. Everything he said is true."

Rhys blinks again. "Aliens? In Cardiff?"

The Doctor nods. "There is a rift here in time and space, it lets all sorts of creature features roam into this world and Torchwood helps, sort of, in controlling that. And right now the rift has let something into Cardiff that should never exist in the same dimension that I inhabit."

"What he means," Martha says gently seeing his confused look at the Doctor's high-speed ramble, "is that we're the good guys. The man who has your girlfriend, isn't."  
Rhys walks over until he is nose to nose with Jack. "If anything happens to Gwen I'll kill you."

Jack regards him evenly. "Now we've got that out of the way may I introduce the Doctor." The Doctor reaches over and shakes his hand. "And Martha and Tish Jones."

"Hi," Rhys says still looking a bit confused and a bit embarrassed by the two women staring at him. "I'm gonna go get dressed."

* * *

Rose flutters her eyelids open. She half sits up, feeling the softness of the sofa beneath her, and wonders where she is. She does not recognise the white tiled walls or desks of the room. She is still wearing her strappy black dress and high heels. Where are Harry and Lucy? Suddenly she feels like she might throw up and clasps a hand over her mouth.  
Then a man's hand touches her back gently, his fingers cool on her bare shoulder blade. "Rose?" his voice is full of concern. "Are you feeling alright?"  
She takes a deep shuddery breath to quell the vomity feeling and looks round at him. Harry stares at her, concern in his eyes, his suit jacket undone, his collar loosened and his black bow tie hanging loose around his neck. He looks sexy in a rumpled morning-after James Bond kind of a way.  
"I feel sick," is all she manages to mumble past her hand, trying to dispel the feeling of finding another woman's husband attractive.  
Harry looks around, spots a bin, grabs it and holds it under Rose's mouth while she throws up. With his free hand he holds her hair back out of the way.  
"Sorry," she finally mumbles when she is finished, deciding that this is so very unattractive that she wants to run away.  
"Nonsense," he says firmly, putting the bin across the room. He sits beside her. "People being sick is a possible side effect."  
"Of what?" She frowns at him.  
"Why inter-dimensional travel my little Rosebud." He gently tucks a strand of hair behind her ear, and cups her cheek. "Welcome home."  
"What?" she finally whispers incredulously at him.  
He flashes her a wide smile. "I told you we'd all get what we wanted Rose."  
Rose grabs hold of his arms, her fingers gripping the smooth expensive material. "How?" she mutters, her eyes flitting round the room then back to his face. He seems to be the only thing keeping her steady right now. Her port in the storm. "Where are we?"  
"Torchwood Three, Cardiff," he says evenly. He raises an eyebrow. "They lack the cleanliness of your establishment though."  
"The Doctor?" she whispers as though afraid to say his name.  
"You'll be seeing him soon enough."  
Rose blinks in confusion as Lucy comes trotting over.  
"Good morning Rose," she says primly. "Harry darling, that man keeps looking at me."  
"Which one?"  
"The one in the jeans."  
Harry purses his lips. "I'll sort it out."  
"Man?" Rose asks puzzled. "What man?"  
"Just the Torchwood team here. It doesn't matter Rosebud." Harry flashes her that brilliant smile again and suddenly it doesn't seem to matter that much. "Now sweetheart," he says gently pulling her hands from his suit sleeves, "I don't want you crumpling me too much." He winks at her. "Unless you mean it of course."  
Rose giggles despite herself.  
"That's better," Harry says softly. He gives her hand a squeeze and presses a kiss to her forehead. "Much better to see you smile." He stands up. "Stay in here and amuse yourself ladies." He sketches a bow to the two of them, and then heads off down a set of stairs and through a door.  
Lucy plonks herself down beside Rose. Rose continues to stare in fascination around the room, not trusting herself to get up and explore just yet.  
The door through which Harry disappeared opens again and Harry reappears dragging a struggling handcuffed man by the collar of his long sleeved t-shirt.  
Lucy just sits there and watches the spectacle dispassionately. Rose half-stands, feels the bile rise in her throat, and sags back down. "Harry! What's going on?"  
"Nothing to worry your pretty little head about my Rosebud."  
The struggling man looks directly at her and Rose recognises him as one of Jack's team. She met him on the slaver's ship. The doctor, what was his name? Owen. Owen Harper. "Owen?" the name tumbles from her lips before she can stop it.  
"Rose?" he blinks at her. "What the fuck?"  
"I said don't worry," Harry snaps at her.  
Rose forces herself to stand on wobbly legs not helped by her high heels. "Where's Jack?" she demands.  
Harry smiles at her again, and it suddenly chills her to the bone. "That's what I'm planning on finding out."  
He propels the man from the main room. Rose stands frozen staring after him, wondering if she can move to reach the bin and throw up again. She looks round at Lucy, who has picked up a discarded fashion magazine and is flicking through the pages, as if her husband hasn't just dragged a man through the room.  
The screaming starts soon afterwards. And Rose reaches for the bin.

* * *

Jack's mobile rings shrilly. They all stare at it for a moment.  
"Its him," Jack says reaching for it. He thumbs the answer button. "Hello," he says sullenly.  
"Hello Freak. Let me speak to the Doctor."  
"He's not here," Jack lies, his eyes flying to the Time Lord's face, who quirks an eyebrow at him.  
"Don't lie to me Jack," The Master says relishing the sound of his name. "I know he's there. Probably standing there watching you talk to me, maybe one eyebrow raised. Hands in his pockets and pretending he isn't worried?"  
Jack looks the Doctor up and down, who is standing exactly as the Master has described. Wordlessly he hands the phone to the Doctor who takes it silently. He raises the phone to his ear. "Hello."  
"Hello stranger," the Master positively purrs in his ear.  
The Doctor turns away from the prying eyes of the others in the room. "Stop this now."  
The Master laughs. "Why should I? I'm not the one cowering away not even knowing all the facts."  
"What are you talking about?"  
The Master's voice drops to a silky whisper. "A certain young lady of your acquaintance."  
The Doctor feels fingers of ice stroking at both of his hearts. "You're lying."  
"Really?"  
"Yes. It isn't possible. Rather like you."  
"Yes I suppose I am to your rather limited way of thinking."  
The Doctor laughs disbelievingly. "Limited?"  
"Yes limited."  
"Well then explain it to me," the Doctor says, leaning back against the windowsill.  
"As if I'd reveal all my master plans to you like a common movie villain. Ooo Master plans." He laughs at his own joke.  
"I'll figure it out you know. Because I'm so much cleverer than you."  
"Not clever enough to save Rose are you?"  
"You don't get to say her name!" The Doctor snaps, fire flaring in his voice.  
"Doctor?" Martha asks worry in her voice.  
"Ah Miss Jones is there. I'm sure Miss Tyler would love to hear how she was replaced."  
"You're lying!"  
"No I'm not," the Master says in a singsong voice.  
"Doctor!" Martha tries to get his attention again.  
"You and her..."  
"Her?" Jack interrupts worriedly.  
The Doctor throws him a look, his eyes burning. Jack shuts his mouth.  
"How would I know that she gets giggly when she drink champagne? Or that her shampoo smells of coconut?" The Master's voice drops lower. "How would I know these things if I hadn't been close to her, touched her..."  
"Stop it!" The Doctor snaps sharply.

"Touched a nerve have I?" He can hear the smirk in the other Time Lord's voice. "You want her, come get her Doctor." There is a weighted pause. "Unless I've already had her first that is."

What comes out of the Doctor's mouth next, the TARDIS's translation circuits choose not to translate for Jack and Martha, but they can tell that it is probably a stream of swear words from the tone.

The Master clicks his tongue disapprovingly. "Tell the Freak, two down. Two to go." He hangs up straight afterwards.

The Doctor looks at Jack. "He says two down."

Jack closes his eyes.

"He has Rose."

Jack's eyes flash open.

The Doctor turns on the rest of them, "The Storm is coming, and if you don't want to help then you had sure as hell better get out of the way!" He turns and stalks out of the flat.

Martha stares after him and the words spoken so long ago by a schoolboy come as an unbidden murmur to her lips. "He's like fire and ice and rage. He's like the night and the storm and the heart of the sun…."

* * *

The Doctor returns to the flat a little while later, looking much calmer.

Jack is leaning over Martha's shoulder at Rhys' computer. He looks up. "I think we have a way in."

Rhys is standing behind them, looking bewildered with his arms folded.

The Doctor leans in the doorframe. "Good."

"Good?" Rhys blinks. "Why don't you go to the police instead of going all Wild Bunch?"

"Because the police would get themselves killed," Tish says from her position on the sofa, before any of the others can answer. "The Doctor is the only one who will stop him. And if we want to live we will listen to him."

The Doctor nods to Tish and gives her a gentle smile that she doesn't return.

Jack points to the screen. "Doctor, we can enter here. I think I can override the security systems enough to get us in. He'll hold them in the cells if they're still alive. We can get them out and then surprise him from below."

The Doctor nods curtly. "One flaw Jack."

Jack frowns.

"I can never surprise him."

* * *

The Master twirls Ianto's hockey stick in his hands casually. Ianto stares up at him, keeping his eyes on the twirling wooden stick.  
"So Ianto Jones isn't it?" The Master paces in front of him, glancing at him with amusement dancing in his eyes.  
Ianto says nothing, merely rests the back of his head against the metal railing in the morgue where he is handcuffed with his arms twisted painfully either side of the pole. His ankles are handcuffed together and also attached to the pole; his legs bent underneath him so he is in a kneeling position. He can feel pins and needles prickling his feet.  
The Master brings the hockey stick up underneath Ianto's chin with a sharp sweep of the stick. Ianto flinches as it connects, not hard enough to snap his head back, but hard enough that it clicks his teeth together. He can't help the grunt of pain that escapes his lips. The Master smiles.  
"So Ianto Jones, which one of you is Jack's golden boy?"  
"Go to hell," Ianto snaps.  
The Master laughs. "How original. Doctor Harper said exactly the same thing." The Master leafs through the file on the tabletop. "Hmm dead girlfriend. Fancy joining dear Lisa?"  
Ianto spits in his face. The spittle hits the Master's cheek.  
"Don't you say her name!"  
The Master punches him, snapping his head round and splitting his lip and the inside of his cheek. Ianto spits a globule of blood onto the floor while the Master wipes his face with a hand.  
"So Ianto has Jack told you about that year?"  
Ianto nods. "He told us enough."  
"Did he tell you that he screamed?" The Master says mockingly. "That he begged and cried and whimpered his way to a thousand deaths?"  
"You're a sick fuck!"  
The Master brings the hockey stick viciously into Ianto's stomach. He gasps and sags forwards, hissing in pain as the metal handcuffs bite into his wrists and he is gasping for breath.  
The Master crouches before him. "He isn't coming you know? For all his bravado he's still a dead man walking."  
Ianto raises his eyes to the other man's and forces a smile onto his lips, teeth red. "Just...like...you," he pants, still struggling to draw breath.  
The Master stands and readjusts his grip on the hockey stick. "For a tea boy you have some balls." He grins twistedly. "But not for long."  
He brings the hockey stick upwards in one short hard swing between Ianto's legs. Ianto screams ear splittingly loudly and tries to curl up into a ball but his shackles will not allow him. He whimpers and thinks he might be sick as his stomach ties in knots. The Master laughs as Ianto starts to cry.

* * *

"I thought you were my friend!"

"I was…I am," Lucy replies.

"You used me!"

"You used me too Rose. All to get back here, get back to your Doctor. Would you have even entertained my idea had I not mentioned him?"

"I…" Rose stops realising it to be true. She grabs hold of Lucy's wrist and pulls her in close. "Who the hell are you?"  
Lucy smiles at her serenely. "Mrs Harold Saxon."  
"What does that mean?"  
Lucy smiles again. "It means he loves me. And when the world ends, I'll be the one he saves." She gives Rose a push, twisting her arm to break the younger woman's grip. "Harry loves me."  
Rose rubs her wrist. "That's not love! Its just hate that he got the wrong way round!"  
"Harry taught me how to defend myself." She smiles again. "You're a little girl, you know nothing of him."  
"I know he's a monster!" Rose spits.

"He's a visionary." Lucy sits down beside her on the sofa, suddenly friendly as you like. "The Doctor took him away from me you know? Made him work harder then he needed to. Made him do things he shouldn't." Her hand strays absently to her eye socket as though recalling something. "You and me we're alike Rose. We both love impossible men, and maybe we could be real friends." She looks wistful. "I just wish..." she hesitates, lowers her voice to a whisper. "I wish the Doctor would just leave us alone."  
Rose raises her eyebrows and a heart rending male scream echoes from the morgue. "As long as he keeps hurting them, he never will."  
Lucy looks sad, and stands, smoothing her long dress down as she does so. "Then I'm sorry Rose. I wanted to protect you. If we were friends I could of." She turns, hitching up her skirts to cross the Hub to sit at one of the desks. Rose watches her silently. Lucy fiddles with a strand of hair and calmly listens to the man screaming. "He doesn't scream as much as Jack," she says conversationally.  
Rose couldn't imagine what could make Jack scream the way the dark haired man screams. Jack was always so brave. Last time she saw him on the slaver's ship, he looked harder than she remembered from Satellite Five. What happened to you Jack? She thinks sadly. This is his team so why isn't he breaking down the door to save them?

* * *

Gwen leans against the chilly stonewall. "Owen?" she calls trying to rouse the unconscious man.  
She hears a groan in reply.  
"Owen!" she repeats more forcefully. "Wake up! Owen!"  
"Here," he says, sounding irritable.  
"You okay?"  
"What do you think?" he groans back. Owen crawls weakly so he is sat against the wall approximately where he thinks Gwen is. "Is Tosh with you?"  
"No," Gwen says softly. "He took her."  
"Are you hurt?" Owen goes into doctor mode to try and take his mind off the pain. Try not to think about that man with his hands on Toshiko.  
"Not much. He cut off my hair. He...he..." She can't say the rest and starts to cry. "Why is he doing this?"  
"He kept asking me about Jack." Owen has a sudden spurt of clarity. "He wants to hurt Jack by hurting us. He wants to find out which one of us Jack cares for most."  
"Ianto," he barely hears her whisper through the stone.  
"Yes." Owen leans his head against the wall, while at the same time staunching the blood flowing from his arm by wrapping a torn piece of t-shirt around it. He hisses softly through his teeth at the pain. His jaw aches from the punches. But he focuses his energy on Gwen right now as a terrible realisation hits him. "Gwen did he...did he touch you?" He hates to ask the question but who knows what this madman could do.  
"What?" she sounds confused.  
"Did he rape you?" Owen says bluntly. No way to sugar coat it.  
"No," she answers firmly.  
He believes her, despite the tears. It would be a bloody strong-minded man that tried it on with Gwen Cooper.  
"Are you hurt Owen?" she asks. "No dodging the question this time."  
"Yes." He stares down at his arms and watches the blood ooze through his long-sleeved white t-shirt in various places. "I'm just glad I keep my instruments so clean or I'd be more worried about septicaemia."  
"Owen..." Gwen puts her hand against the wall as though he will be able to feel it.  
"Don't Gwen. Don't feel sorry for me. It won't help."  
A scream echoes down to them. Owen flinches and Gwen buries her face into her hands. "Ianto," she groans.  
Owen balls his fists. He remembers the easy camaraderie between him and the Welshman even though it never really happened.  
"I can't hear Tosh," Gwen says softly. "I could hear you, even down here."  
Owen closes his eyes. He doesn't want to think what that means. Tosh doesn't deserve this. Ianto screams again and they both flinch against the wall.

* * *

_She tries to fade into the background but it seems like every time she does that he directs his attention on her more fiercely. With his eyes that feel like they are reading her mind. She hates him. And his wife. She used to quite like Lucy Saxon. Now she thinks about strangling the bitch in her sleep. But Lucy isn't the woman she once was. She's a certifiable nut bag in Tish's opinion. Driven mad by what her husband does, both to her and around her. Tish can't bring herself to kill a crazy woman. Lucy cowers when Jack screams, covering her ears at the things happening that a few moments ago she egged her husband on to do. Tish never covers her ears. Hearing Jack scream reinforces her hatred for the Master. Everyone else pretends they can't hear him. Jack deserves more than that, he deserves to have her pity and sorrow every time they kill him. _

* * *

_She was warm and cosy and safe. His arms were around her and she was happy. Contented. She can hear the double thump of his hearts against her cheekbone. She knows he is awake, and not moving as he doesn't want to disturb her. These are about the only times they get to be alone. The nights of passionate love making then sleeping in each other's arms. Before he loses himself to his day, all the things he has to do, as the world spirals towards his grand finale. When he loses himself to other people, people not her. People like the Doctor who still pities her even though there is nothing to be pitied for. She is a queen in a floating palace. Her Valiant. People like Harkness who tries his damndest to flirt with her, the guards, anyone who isn't Harry. _

_The minutes of the day before he becomes the Master again and isn't just her Harry Saxon who flirted through the tiresome book interviews and promised he would one day show her the stars. The Master who is going further and further off the rails with his manic energy, and Harry who still loves her and who is getting overwhelmed. _

_She lets her eyes open against her better nature. _

_"Good morning Lucy," he says smiling down at her as the sun pours through the windows. _

_A brand new day. _

_"Morning," she replies sleepily and nuzzles her face into his chest. _

_"Time to get up," he says. _

_"No," she pouts at him. "A few more minutes?" she pleads. _

_"Not today!" he singsongs and slides his body away from her and out of their bed. _

_Not today. Never today. Not for her. She gets the nights. She's lost him for another day. To the Doctor who seems to occupy every minute of Harry's daytime hours in one way or another. But come darkness he will crawl back into their bed and lose himself in her again. _

_She rises from the bed covers irritably and wonders how long it will be until her maid, that Jones girl, comes to tend to her, with her sullen mouth and hate-filled eyes. She can't see the gorgeousness Harry speaks of in the girl, maybe before at Downing Street but not now. Lucy has given up trying to have a conversation with her. She doesn't need them anyway. She doesn't need anyone. Only her Harry. _

_He skips over to her and gives her a kiss. "Where today my princess?" His question holding the promise of so many dark and delicious possibilities. _

_She ponders a moment. "I've never liked Brazil."_

* * *

Ianto's feet and knees had long since gone numb pressed into the cold tile as they were. All night he had shifted and wiggled, trying to find a way to alleviate the pressure and pain on various parts of his body to little avail. In the end he dozed fitfully, waking at every noise that could be Saxon returning. The soft hands touching his face are a surprise. Maybe Jack has come to save him, maybe...maybe...But the hands are too small, women's hands. Ianto's eyes snap open and he flinches away against the railings.  
"Ssshh," the blonde gently strokes his face. "I'm Rose, I'm not here to hurt you."  
Ianto looks into her eyes and believes her. No reason to, since she arrived with Him, but Rose, some suppressed memory, a fleeting mention of this woman means he needs to trust her.  
Rose pulls a hairpin from her hair and reaches round him and starts to fiddle with the handcuffs. She offers him a smile in the darkness as she does it.  
"You know Jack don't you?" Ianto asks suddenly, voice low.  
She nods. "I do."  
She brushes against a sensitive spot and Ianto hisses through his teeth, tries not to cry out, but whimpers all the same.  
"I'm sorry," Rose murmurs and her hand gently squeezes his shoulder. "Be brave okay?"  
Ianto nods, gives her a wan smile. "Yes ma'am."  
"Oh I like ma'am," she grins at him in the dark. "I can see why Jack likes being in charge now."  
Ianto knows its a clumsy attempt to divert his attention but he accepts it gratefully, clings to it like a drowning man to a life belt. Until the over head lights snap on and the life belt sinks like a stone. Ianto and Rose blink in the sudden brightness. Ianto shrinks back into himself and bows his head.  
"Well this is cosy," the Master drawls from the doorway, holding Owen by the scruff of his neck.  
Owen looks delirious, his head is lolling and there are fresh blood stains on his t-shirt. He looks drugged.  
"Nice try Rosebud," he continues, "those handcuffs are deadlock sealed. A simple hairpin won't work on them."  
Rose stands up as the Master drags Owen over to the autopsy table and hauls him onto it. Owen flops there, not fighting him at all. Ianto watches his team mate through his eyelashes without lifting his head. Owen turns his head weakly and gives him a grim, mocking smile. Ianto returns it sardonically.  
The Master stalks over to Rose, grabs hold of her arm and pulls her close to him. She stares fearfully up into his eyes and he offers her a slow smile. "Did you never question how we got here Rosebud? It was you. All you. Bad Wolf. I needed the wolf in you to open the door."

She gasps, still staring at him.

"Y'know you fell in love with me far quicker than I would of thought." He leans down and kisses her sharply. Rose fights him for a few seconds then just stops, submits to the kiss.  
"Rose!" Ianto blurts out, not understanding.  
The Master breaks the kiss and offers him a mocking smile. "Off you go Rosebud. Go back to bed."  
Rose nods and yawns and goes out of the room.  
"What did you do to her?" Somehow Ianto can't control his anger.  
The Master crosses the room and crouches in front of him. He stares into Ianto's eyes and the Welshman tries to drag his eyes away. The Master grins at him, breaking the spell.  
"Hypno eyes," Ianto finally says grimly.  
"Oh don't say it like that!" He makes jazz hands and his grin gets wider. "Hypno eyes!"  
"You know," Ianto says leaning in towards Saxon and lowering his voice, so that the other man has to lean in to hear him, "you're a psycho nut job."  
The Master's anger flares and he grabs Ianto's tie and pulls it. Ianto gasps as the Master stands pulling the tie tighter on his windpipe. The knot of the dark red silk tie digs painfully into his throat. Jack bought his this tie, last Christmas, and Ianto thinks Jack wouldn't want it to be the one he dies in. He gasps as the Master pulls harder and feels tears, hot on the back of his eyelids.  
"Jack..." he gasps.  
The pressure releases slightly and the Master smiles at him in a way which makes

Ianto wonder if he has killed them all.

"Most men cry for their mothers did you know that?"

"Fuck off."

"But you cry for Captain Jack Harkness. Think my questions have just been answered."

The Master yanks again and knots the tie round part of the railing to which he is cuffed then crosses to Owen. Ianto struggles to get enough breath into his lungs as white spots start to dance in his vision. He remembers asking Jack what it felt like to die. Remembers his dreams. But that had been easy, just slipping away while Jack sang in his ears. This is a fight, his body struggling to live. Maybe it would be easier to slip into that black. But Ianto rouses himself and pushes his body upwards to relieve some of the strain on his windpipe. His legs and feet screaming with the movement. He blinks away the spots and cranes his neck to look at Owen, the tie still restricting his breathing uncomfortably.  
The Master has ripped off his t-shirt and is standing over him holding a scalpel.  
"We'll send the dear Captain a message shall we?" he laughs and it borders on manic.  
Owen fixes his eyes on Ianto's who nods minutely. They do not break the gaze once, even when Owen screams.

* * *

Jack forces open the hatch above his head and scrambles out of the stinking sewer tunnel.  
"You know, for a lock down, this was surprisingly easy to break Jack," the Doctor says frowning as he accepts Jack's outstretched hand.  
Jack ignores the question and helps Tish out of the hole, followed by Martha and Rhys. He pulls his gun and jogs to the corner of the corridor they are in, and peers round it. He gestures with his pistol for them to follow him.  
The Doctor puts his hands in his pockets, sighs and leads the way. They catch up with Jack, who is crouched against the wall just past the corner.  
"Martha," Jack whispers, "your nimble fingers if I may?"  
She raises an eyebrow at him.  
"Not like that!" he grins still whispering. "Maybe later though." He points the gun upwards to the security camera. "Need that, disconnected."  
He holds out his hands, linked to form a step for her. Martha puts her foot into Jacks grip and allows herself to be hoisted upwards. She steadies herself with one hand against the wall, and reaches for the camera wires. Realising she will need two hands, and not trusting Jack's loose grip on her foot, she hooks her free leg over his shoulder. She feels Jack chuckle softly against her belly button, his breath warm through her top. Deftly she disconnects the camera and lets Jack lower her to the ground. She fixes him with a look. "No ideas!" she warns him. He smirks. "I mean it! And for Torchwood you have rubbish cameras! I could fix you up with some UNIT ones..."  
"Promises promises," Jack scoffs, "you've failed to delivery me one of those red berets Miss Jones..."  
"Enough!" The Doctor snaps angrily despite knowing it is their attempt to stave off the fear infecting them all.  
They both fall silent.  
"Where are we Jack?" the Doctor demands.  
"Storerooms. Near the cells. I'm thinking he's stashed them down here." Jack pulls his gun again and stealthily leads the way towards the far door, suppressing the shudder that goes through him as they pass the room where Ianto hid Lisa. He opens the door to the cells cautiously and looks around. He lets out a low whistle.  
"Jack? Jack! In here!"  
"Gwen!" Jack shoves the door fully open and heedlessly runs to the front of her cell. "Are you hurt?"  
She just nods as he opens her cell and rushes in. He pulls her into his arms.  
"I'm so sorry."  
There is dried blood around her ears.  
"Gwen?"  
"Rhys?" she looks at Jack. "You brought Rhys here?"  
"He knows," Jack replies, helping her out of the cells.  
"Gwen, oh god Gwen!" Rhys reaches for her and she sinks, gratefully, against his chest.  
The Doctor turns away, his eyes already scanning the rest of the cells.  
"Gwen where are the others?" Jack asks gently, trying to keep the fear from his voice.  
She turns her tear-stained face to him. "He took them. There was so much screaming….Jack…He…he…said he…was leaving you a message…"

Jack turns and sprints towards the main Hub.

* * *

Toshiko's tiptoes beat out a desperate tap dance on the smooth top of Jack's desk. Her pink nailed toes stretch in a frantic bid to give herself more purchase on the wood, like a ballerina on Pointe. Her fingers are scrabbling under the rough rope around her neck in a vain effort to release some of its pressure. But her fingers are slow, mere spasms against the hemp, the nails roughly snapped off with the effort, more instinctive survival mechanisms than a conscious action anymore. Her eyes are shut, and the edges of her lips have turned a frightening purpley blue colour. If she fully loses consciousness completely then her feet will slip from their precarious balance on the edge of the desk and she will die.  
Jack takes in the grotesque spectacle of the naked woman hanging above his desk in an instant as he bursts through the door. He feels sick and hates the man who has done this all the more. Her pink painted toenails hold, for a few seconds, a macabre fascination as he doesn't recall ever seeing her toenails before. This all flashes through his mind in the time it takes him to vault onto his desk and grab the naked woman in his arms. He hoists her upwards, his arms around her waist, to release the pressure on her throat, and screams, "Help me!"  
A moment later Rhys is in the doorway, minus Gwen.

He pauses for a fraction of a second. Oh God. Tosh. He'd always got on well with Tosh the few times he had met her. He jumps up on to the desk and unhooks the noose from around Tosh's throat. She slumps, boneless as a rag doll against Jack and he is terribly afraid. Carefully they lower her onto the desktop, where she lays, head lolling to one side.  
Rhys reaches to her throat and feels for a pulse. He nods. "Its weak but there." He holds his cheek over her mouth to feel for the faintest whisper of breath, then feeling none, pinches her nose and breathes deeply into her lungs.  
"Come on Tosh," Jack mutters holding her hand. "Breathe."  
Rhys repeats the action several more times, his expression one of desperation. "Come on!"  
Tosh suddenly gasps back to life beneath his lips. One of her eyes is red with broken blood vessels.  
"Welcome back," Jack says smiling in relief at her. He strips off his coat and covers her nakedness with it.  
Rhys gives her a small smile. "Don't tell Gwen," he jokes raising the pained ghost of a smile from her, her lips already pinker.  
"How are you feeling?" Jack asks, eying the rope burn on her throat with concern.  
"Okay," she says weakly, trying to sit up.  
"Whoa," Jack loops an arm around her back and steadies her. "Don't rush yourself."  
She looks at Rhys in concern. "Gwen?"  
"She's okay," he replies.  
Tosh's eyes flit back to Jack. "Owen? Ianto?" she asks her voice thin with fear.  
"We're still looking." Jack tries to control the tremor of fear in his voice but fails.  
"Jack..." she starts.  
He presses a kiss to the side of her head, and she can feel him trembling. Jack is afraid. For us. He does love us.

"Go," she says weakly. "Go find them…"

Jack nods. "Rhys," he orders. "Look after her!"

* * *

_His last words to her had been joking. "Last one to Cardiff buys the drinks." She'd smiled at him past her knotted hair, normally so sleek and shiny. He wonders why he noticed that at that moment. Its not like he ever notices a girl's hair, unless its spread across his pillow. Seems a million years since he last saw a pillow. _  
_He remembers Ianto looking like he might cry and thinking 'Pansy tea boy', even as he wanted to join him on the edge of that emotion. He glances sideways at the man at his side, sheltering from the rain under a tree but still soaked to the skin. Bloody monsoon or something. Hardly a tea boy anymore. Ianto is shivering. Owen slips his arms around the other man. "Shared body heat," he says. So many nights, the shared body heat line their macho excuse for seeking the comfort of each other's arms. Holding each other so they know they are not alone. That the screaming knot of fear in their bellies is shared. That even as the world goes to Hell someone else has your back so that maybe you won't go to Hell with it. _  
_Ianto nods, glances eastwards. "Do you think...?"_  
_"No." He doesn't mean to sound harsh, but Ianto's been asking for twelve days the same question. Do you think…? Never finished. Never saying her name. Owen wonders if they will ever bring them selves to say it. Not just think it. Toshiko Sato, Toshiko Sato, Toshiko Sato, with every step further west, further north. Further away from the bloody mountains and towards home. Further away from __her__. They'd watched the glow on the horizon, smelt the burning while Owen fought the urge to be sick, waited three days longer at the rendezvous than agreed, before silently saying goodbye and moving onwards. Further away from Gwen's frozen body in the mountains. Further away from the two women who really knew who they were. Possibly further from sanity, and the men they used to be. And still Ianto asks. _  
_"She's dead Yan," he says softly. _  
_"I know." Ianto's voice is quiet. "Just had to ask."_  
_"Are you going to ask all the way to Cardiff because I swear I'll..."_  
_Ianto laughs, a low down chuckle that Owen feels more than hears. They exchange a smile that fades almost as soon as they make it. _  
_"Think we'd better stop for the night." Ianto punctuates this by sitting down against the tree. _  
_Owen joins him, sitting so close that their shoulders touch. Ianto is still shivering against him. Owen mentally lists the symptoms of hypothermia and thinks about taking the other man's pulse. Not another one he thinks, Gwen's face swimming in his mind. He puts his arm around the Welshman again who offers him a grim grateful smile. Shared body heat indeed. But inside Owen still feels like ice, like every scrap of warmth is draining out of his body like blood. _

The smell of the blood is so strong that it coats the back of his tongue so thickly that he can taste it, the sharp metallic tang at the back of his throat. Jack tries not to retch and steps carefully into the medbay. The smooth tiles are slippery with blood and he has to catch the railing to stop himself falling. He stares into the pit where on the table Owen lies, his eyes shut. There is no sound but the steady drip drip of blood off the edge of the autopsy table onto the floor. For a long horrible moment Jack thinks the young doctor is dead. Jack suddenly rouses himself and races as fast as he can, without slipping, down the stairs to Owen's side.  
"Owen? Owen!" Jack yells at him. From this position Jack can see the full extent of what has been inflicted onto the young man. There are diagonal cuts running up and down his arms, and what look like needle marks in the crook of his elbow and the side of his neck. His face is swollen and bruised from a severe beating. He is shirtless and carved into the flesh of his stomach are the words; "Not Him."

Jack swallows the bile rising in his throat. On the table at his side lays one of Owen's own blood stained scalpels. Jack sweeps it to the floor with a shudder. "Owen?" Jack presses his fingers gently into the side of Owen's neck. Miraculously there is the beat of a pulse under his fingers. "Owen!"  
Owen's eyes flutter open. "Fuck!" he swears trying to double up in pain the realising that is an even worse idea. He drops his head back onto the table with a bang.  
"Owen its Jack."  
"I fucking know that!"  
"Where is the Master?"  
"No idea. Bollocks this hurts!" He gestures towards one of the storage lockers. "Morphine would be good right...about...now..." he winces again.  
"Where's Ianto?"  
"Fucking morphine Jack!"  
Jack hurries over and fills the syringe as instructed by Owen, trying to suppress the fear for Ianto that is fluttering wildly in his belly. Panicking will help no one. He comes back and injects him in the side of the neck. Owen smiles weakly as it starts to kick in. Then seems to rouse himself. "Where's Tosh?" he asks urgently.  
"Safe, she's with the Doctor."  
"Did that bastard hurt her?"  
Jack swallows then simply says, "Yes."  
Owen with an almost superhuman effort pushes himself to a sitting position. The wounds start to bleed again. He stares down at his stomach. "Fucking Bastard used me as a doodle pad. Guess my bikini days are over."  
"It's not too deep. Maybe the Doctor will have something to stop the scarring." Jack strips off his shirt then his t-shirt and used the latter to stem the blood flow from Owen's stomach. "Hold this."  
"I'm the fucking doctor here Jack," he says argumentatively but obediently holds the t-shirt.  
Jack rips his blue shirt into strips and starts to wrap Owen's arms.  
"Where's Gwen?" He still sounds half delirious.  
"Safe." Jack ties the last strip tightly round his arm. "Can you walk?"  
Owen nods and lets Jack help him to his feet. Together they stagger into the main room of the Hub.  
"Martha!" Jack says urgently. He looks sideways at the medic. "It looks like a slaughterhouse in there."  
Martha hurries to Owen's side. "Did you give him anything?"  
"Morphine."  
Martha helps Owen to a chair and forces him to sit down.  
"Where's Tosh?" he asks her urgently.  
Toshiko appears at his side and tries to smile at him. "Hey..."  
Owen takes in the vivid red rope burn around her neck and her bloodshot eye, and grabs hold of her round her waist and pulls her onto his lap. He buries his face into the crook of her neck. "Thank fuck you're alright."  
Tosh ignores the blood stains that are appearing on the sweatshirt and trousers the Doctor found for her and holds him against her. Owen is crying silently into her shoulder while Martha cleans the wounds in his arms that are around Tosh without a word.  
The Doctor appears next to Jack, eyes his bare chest without comment. "He's not here. Nor is Rose." His voice is calm, even, but Jack can detect the deep down fire within it. The tone of voice that only threats to Rose can provoke.  
"Ianto's gone too." Jack is trying to not imagine the implications of this.  
The Doctor's face shadows. "There's only so far he can get if he's hauling an injured man."  
Jack pulls a face.  
Tish walks up beside them. "They've taken Owen's car."  
"What?" The Doctor says.  
"His car. It's missing."  
"They did what to my car?" Owen's head snaps up. "Bastard took my car!"  
"I can find it," Jack says moving for the computer.  
"How?" Owen raises an eyebrow and winces with the motion.  
"I...err..." he busies himself with the computer screen.  
"Did you bug our cars?"  
"Yes."  
Owen snorts in annoyance. "Why not just microchip us like pet dogs and be done with?"  
"Maybe I will!" Jack snaps not looking up. "Got them. They're down by the river."  
The Doctor looks round at them. "Rhys and Gwen, stay here."  
Rhys nods silently.  
"Why?" Gwen protests.

"Because I say so!" The Doctor snaps loudly. "You too Martha, look after the injured."

Martha fixes him with a sharp look. "No. I'm coming to help Ianto."

"Me too," Tish says quickly. "I'm not staying here."

* * *

While Jack throws the SUV around the streets of Cardiff, his mobile starts ringing. The Doctor snatches it out of Jack's coat pocket. He can feels Martha and Tish's eyes on him.  
"I'm here," he says ignoring them.  
"Always waiting aren't you Doctor?" The Master's tone is light, almost flirtatious, not revealing any of his current plight. "Waiting for me, waiting for the girlie, waiting for my Rosebud..."  
"She's not yours." The Doctor keeps his voice even.  
"She could be. Small twists of fate, of time, meant you got there first." he pauses. "We could rule this world you know? The four of us. Lords of time and their Queens."  
The Doctor pauses. "No," he finally says. "Not the way you want. I forgave you once..."  
"And you'll do it again?" The Master mocks. "No Doctor it doesn't work that way. They won't forgive me, won't forgive you, if you don't do what the black little hearts of the people in that car want."  
The Doctor flicks his eyes to Martha and Tish in the back of the SUV, wondering if the Master is right. Can these two girls really want him dead like that? He looks at Jack, notices the twitching muscle in the man's cheek, the darkness swirling in his eyes, the death grip on the steering wheel. Jack looks over at him suddenly. "Tell him he's a dead man. If he's touched them I'll kill him."  
The Doctor wants to say that they already know he has hurt Ianto but realises that is why Jack has said it. Judge, jury and executioner. He has heard the evidence and given the sentence. The Doctor returns his attention to the man on the phone.  
The Master is singing to himself. "I'm all outta love, I'm so lost without you..."  
"I'll try."  
The Master stops singing abruptly. "Try? Do or do not, there is no try," he mocks, echoing Yoda deliberately. "I don't think you can. Not this time."

"Just let them go."

"What? Jack's lapdog? He's more fun on a leash."

_Ianto ducks into the ditch beside the road, and sinks up to his ankles in mud. His army boots, however, keep his feet dry and he hitches his coat up around his waist to stop it trailing in the mud as he crouches. Even here he needed to some semblance at neatness. A nod to the old Ianto. _  
_The spheres march their prisoners past in lines. Stumbling men, women and children heading for the labour camps, the factories that cover much of Europe. There is nothing he can do for them. So he hides in the shadows of the ditch and lets angry hot tears stream down his face. When did he become the one who could pass them by and not help? _  
_He wonders if Ianto Jones is dead. Replaced with a scarred hollow shell who looks a bit like a Welshman who used to care. But he still does care - he cares about Jack. He might have given up a good many things on the journey but Jack is still his beacon. His North Star shining and guiding him home. Home, it seems like a cruel joke, something that should exist but doesn't really. Maybe all of this is a cruel joke. He thinks he might be dead, maybe he bled to death in Georgia when they attempted to take him alive. His face still feels weird with the scar, makes him even less like Ianto. He'd killed the man to save his own life. Even though it was self defence it hadn't stopped him running away and throwing up until there was nothing but stomach acid burning his throat. Maybe he is in Hell. Maybe be deserves to be. After everything maybe Hell is what he deserves. For Owen, for Tosh, Gwen, Lisa…for all the people he loved and let down. Jack's face swims before his eyes and he allows himself to smile tightly. Would Jack be eying his camouflage fatigues and dirty boots and making inappropriate comments about men in uniform? Would he be disappointed? Will he be disappointed when Ianto comes home? Disappointed in who he has become now. Somehow that seems worse than anything else he can imagine. Would Jack like him anymore? He slips his hand inside his coat to touch the cool metal of the stopwatch hidden inside there. Would Jack even know him now? Would he pass me by in the street and not know my face? _  
_When the spheres have gone the man-who-used-to-be-Ianto climbs back onto the road, settles his pack and gun on his back and continues in the opposite direction without another look. _

Jack skids the SUV to a stop when they see the figures beside Owen's car. There are several empty warehouses nearby, and loading equipment. Old docks. Unused since god knows when. The four of them leap from the vehicle but the Doctor waves them to keep back.

"Rose!"

She looks blankly at him from the Master's side, where she stands, her hands handcuffed together.

"Oh very clever Master."

"I just love it when you say my name like that."

The Doctor ignores him, fiddles with the sonic screwdriver, aims it at Rose and grins. "Wake up Rose."

The Master growls in aggravation as he presses the button.

"What the? Where am I?" Rose blinks and presses her cuffed hands to her head. "Doctor?"

The Master grabs hold of her waist. "Nice trick Doctor. She's still the reason I'm here."

The Doctor holds up the screwdriver. "I made some upgrades."

No one is paying the slightest bit of attention to Tish who has been rummaging in the back of the SUV. Now she circles the group, coming up beside Lucy Saxon. She grabs her by the arm and pulls her further away from the Master. Tish presses the pistol she has found to the side of Lucy's head. "You want to see her die?"

"Tish don't!" The Doctor shouts.

"Why not?" she growls as Lucy whimpers pathetically.

"Because you can't!"

"Listen to him gorgeous," the Master says grinning, and pulling Rose closer. She wiggles and tries to fight him.  
Ianto is on his knees, silent throughout, his hands cuffed in front of him, his head bowed, too weak to stand. He has been silent throughout the entire exchange.  
"Yan?" Jack calls, the worry evident in his voice.  
Ianto looks up and goddamn smiles at him. "Sir."  
"Yes sir, no sir, of course you can bugger me senseless sir," the Master mocks, he grabs Ianto's tie and yanks. Ianto gasps for breath.  
Jack can see the red welts on his neck and the purple bruising on Ianto's face. His suit jacket is missing, there is a hole in the knee of his trousers and his shirt is stained with sweat and blood. He looks dreadful and he still manages to smile for Jack.

Ianto glances his eyes up towards the stars in the clear night sky. "Beautiful..." Ianto whispers so quietly that Jack can barely hear the words. He returns his eyes to Jack and forces the words out. "I love you Jack. I think this is a good night to die..."  
"What?" Jack starts but Ianto has thrown himself onto his feet in that instant. He grabs hold of the Master bodily, taking the Time Lord by surprise. Using his own body weight Ianto heaves the two of them over the railing into the river below. Rose screams as the Master's grip on her causes her to stagger then breaks releasing her.  
"IANTO!" Jack screams and races to the railing. There is nothing but a foamy patch of water.  
The Doctor races to Rose. "Are you alright?"  
Tish does not move, keeping the gun pressed into Lucy Saxon's temple and thinks about pulling the trigger. Could she really do it? Murder this woman? Even though she probably deserves it. She made their lives hell for a year, she should be made to pay. Tish looks at Martha who just shakes her head in a silent 'we mustn't.' She lowers the gun and turns her attention to Jack.

"Ianto..." Rose moans, even as the Doctor gathers her into his arms.  
Jack strips off his coat and hands it and his pistol to Martha.  
"You can't..."  
"Yes I can." Jack climbs onto the railing and jumps, hitting the water with a splash and disappearing under the water.  
He opens his eyes. He can't see anything the water is too murky. He reaches out for Ianto's hand, something anything...When the burning in his lungs becomes too much he surfaces, dimly hears someone shouting his name and dives again. He doesn't surface next time, keeps blindly reaching out as the currents buffet him along, until his lungs force him to breathe in. He takes in a mouthful of filthy water and fights the spots dancing in his vision until everything goes black.

* * *

"Ianto…" he gasps opening his eyes to find the Doctor staring down at him. Beneath him the concrete of the slipway is cold through his clothes.

The Doctor shakes his head and helps him to sit up. "Tish and Martha are looking for him. Or any sign of the Master. Lucy is locked in the SUV."

Rose grabs him, crying. "Jack! Jack I'm so sorry."

He lets her hold him and tries not to break down completely. Ianto, oh god Ianto. Being so brave and stupidly heroic and plain stupid. He feels the tears come. Ianto had died for him, to save the world. Stupid man. Such a brilliant stupid man. He would of known he wasn't likely to survive that fall into the water, not in his condition. Ianto was smart enough to know that. He starts to sob into Rose's shoulder like his heart is breaking. Rose holds him tightly.

There comes a sudden cry from further down the river bank and the Doctor is on his feet. Jack disentangles himself from Rose and follows soon after.

"We've found footprints!" Martha shouts as they approach, pointing to a set of smudged wet footprints heading up a slipway from the river.

Men's footprints but if they are Ianto's or the Master's Jack cannot tell. He jogs up the concrete slipway staring down at the smudged weary water marks, until he reaches a patch of overgrown scrub ahead of the others. Then he sees the body face down in the grass. Wearing a bloodstained soaking shirt. Still breathing, he thinks, though angry tears are blurring his vision. What if it isn't him? What if it's the Master? What will he do then? Will he just strangle him with his bare hands?

"Ianto?" Jack isn't sure if he can walk over to confirm his hopes or fears.

But his feet take him over to the man and he looks down with a thudding aching heart.


End file.
